Home
by perfectsmuttyvampire
Summary: Hermione's Time-Turner goes horribly wrong. She is transported across realities, and winds up in the world inhabited by the Cullen family. She's only got two weeks to save the world...
1. Chapter 1

_**TITLE: Home**_

_**SUMMARY: Hermione's Time-Turner goes horribly wrong. She is transported across realities, and winds up in the world inhabited by the Cullen family. She's only got two weeks before the walls of reality close for the final time. Somehow, she must find away to get home, before it's too late.**_

_**WARNINGS: Violence, jeopardy, smut.**_

_**PAIRING: Hermione/Jasper**_

_**A/N: I just had to. Seriously. I've been wanting to do a Twilight/Potter crossover for a while, and this is what my brain managed to conjure up. It's my first ever crossover, and will probably be my last, depending on how this goes. It's going to get confusing, so I made a list of the MAJOR differences.**_

_**1) No Bella, no Jacob**_

_**2) Voldy is dead, but Hermione's needed back home to track his supporters**_

_**3) Jasper is the single one. Edward is with Alice. All special powers remain the same.**_

_**4) No Laurent, James or Victoria**_

_**5) Volturi remains the same.**_

_**Get ready. And PLEASE REVIEW!**_

_**I also need to explain settings. I say at the beginning of each chapter where I'm setting that chapter. So, if I say Forks, I mean the Cullen's, if I say Hogwarts, I mean Potter. I'll also say which POV it is. Got it? Good.**_

HOGWARTS

HermionePOV

It's finally happened, just as we knew it would. The sightings of known Death Eaters in Hogsmede have gone beyond anything that anyone could call coincidence. So they're sending in me, Hermione, to work out exactly how many of them there are, and see if I can't take one prisoner while I'm at it. I'm not even the slightest bit worried, having done this several times before. And nothing bothers Hermione Granger. Not even the idea of having to travel in time to do it.

"Harry, I have done this many times before. I'm going to go back a few hours, spend a little more time researching, and I'll be back before you even miss me. Why are you so worried?"

"Hermione, there have been more death eater sightings in Hogsmede in the last two days than anywhere else. Just promise me you'll be careful."

"Of course I will be."

The old halls of Hogwarts are more familiar than any where else now. I love them, and I know every secret passage, every hidden room and every trick staircase. I know every turn, every corridor, every room. I know where every single common room is. I know how to get from the top of the Astronomy Tower to Snape's dungeon in three seconds flat. And I know exactly how the Time-Turner hanging around my neck works.

I go into Professor McGonagall. She looks at me sternly over the top of her half-moon spectacles.

"I know I don't need to tell you any of the risks involved. Hogsmede has been worryingly active - but I know you know how to handle yourself. If you see any Death Eaters, take note, and get yourself out of sight. Has Harry lent you the cloak?"

"Yes. Don't worry, Professor, I know what I'm doing."

"Then off you go, Hermione. Three turns."

I take a step back from her desk, and turn the dial three times. And then something goes very wrong. Instead of remaining where I am, and everything changing around me, I fall into apparent nothingness. The last thing I see is Professor McGonagall stand up in horror. She reaches out, but I fall nonetheless. My last coherent thought before extremely hard ground rushes up to meet me is that I am breaking my promise to Harry. Everything is so not going to be alright.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Sorry that my first chapter was so ultra-short. I couldn't say too much about it, because she has to tell people later, and if I said it all in the first chapter, my story would become very, very repetitive. So, this will be longer. I promise.**_

FORKS

HermionePOV

I drag my eyes open. My head feels like someone smashed a rock on it, repeatedly. And I see trees. Oh God, my head. I work myself up onto my elbows, and touch the back gingerly. When I take my hand away, I see blood. Oh god. I hate blood. I search my pockets for my wand, and then search a little more frantically. No, no, no, please let me still have my wand. I spy it lying in the grass just inches it away, and launch myself at it - regretting my sudden movement as pain knives through my skull in white-hot bursts.

"_Episkey_," I murmur, tapping my wand to the back of my skull. I grimace as I feel blood stop, a fracture re-knit, and skin repair itself. I stand up slowly, and check myself over. I look down. _Robes_. Bad. Very bad. I don't know where I am, although I think I know what's happened.

Everything I felt when the Time-Turner broke is synonymous with a reality jump. I've read about them so many times - it's a risk when Time-Turner's are getting towards the end of their life. And if I've jumped realities, we have a massive problem. I hold the Time-Turner up to the light and inspect it. As the sunlight hit's the centre, McGonagall suddenly appears before me. Harry and Ron are in her office, looking sick.

"Hermione Granger's Time-Turner has done what we all assumed was impossible. She has jumped Reality itself."

"Hermione is in a parallel universe? Is she safe?"

"I don't know. There's no research to say -"

"Professor, can you hear me? It's Hermione!"

"You're very faint, but we can hear you! Do you know where you are?"

"In the middle of a forest. Not that that helps any. Professor, there is supposed to be a book on Reality jumps. You need to find it. You know the basic rules for this?"

"Hermione, there's something you need to know. Before Professor Dumbledore died, he did a little work on Reality jumps. The person who jumps a Reality falls through a brand new hole in the fabric of reality itself. These holes never last longer than two weeks. You have two weeks to find a way to get home."

"No pressure? That's OK. Listen to me, the book, you have to find it. I can't stay in this spot for a fortnight, so it will be impossible for us to talk to each other. Harry, you need my research. I was trying to find something, something very important. I can't say what it is now, I don't know if anyone is listening. Ron, stay with Ginny, now more than ever - she'll explain, after you've told her what happened to me. And if I don't see either of you," I swallow, my throat closing. "If I never see you again, keep going. Remember that I love you both, yeah? And don't forget -" The picture abruptly disappears. I hang my head. The possibility that I won't ever see either of them again is terrifying.

I walk for nearly ten minutes, before I abruptly see a house through the trees. I run, desperate to have some solid object I can build on, rather than nothing but trees. A young man with golden eyes suddenly appears in front of me. I scream.

"Hey, whoa!" He holds out both hands, to show me he isn't armed. I instinctively check my wand is still in the pocket of my robes.

"Who are you?" I say, my voice harsh with fear.

"Hey, chill. I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Edward, Edward Cullen. May I ask your name?"

"Where am I?"

"OK, this is getting odd…"

"Trust me, kid. Just tell me where I am."

"You're in Forks."

"Forks? What the hell?"

"OK, I'll try again. You're in Forks, Washington. The United States of America."

"I'm in America?…OK, what day is it today?" The boy with the golden eyes is now looking at me with something akin to concern.

"It's July 11th, 2009. So, um, who are you?"

"What? Oh, right. My name is Hermione."

"You want to tell me why you're acting so oddly, Hermione?"

"Edward? Edward?" A new voice, a girl's, filters through the trees.

"No, Alice! Fetch Carlisle!" I start to back away, feeling fear knot in my stomach. Who is this boy, with the golden eyes, the pale skin, with friends hidden in the trees? "Hey, don't be scared," he says, alarm in his voice. "Nobody is going to hurt you. Carlisle is my adopted father. I feel having an adult here would be better."

EdwardPOV

I watch the girl in front of me. Her hair is hanging in perfect ringlets, yet she looks dishevelled, somehow. Her eyes are brown, identifying her immediately as human. She seems edgy, eyes darting around the trees. There's definitely something odd about her.

"Edward?" Carlisle's voice calls out cautiously.

"Is it OK?" I ask her, sensing she'd bolt if he just appeared. She nods, and her hand tightens around something in her pocket. I focus on her clothes. Robes, with some kind of crest on them. Who is she?

What is she?

"Edward?" Carlisle emerges from the trees, and takes in the situation at once. "Who are you?"

"Hermione." She pauses. "Hermione Granger."

"My name is Carlisle. Carlisle Cullen. What happened?"

"I don't know."

"She asked me where she was." I drop my voice to a level she won't hear. "I've read her mind. We need to talk."

"Well, Hermione, I think you ought to come back to our house for a while. You can't stay out here all night." Her eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.

HPOV

"How do I know I can trust you? I don't know where I am, I don't know how I got here, I haven't got a damn clue how I'm going to get back and _I don't know who you are!"_

"We understand about the trust thing. Listen, I'm a doctor, I can help."

"I'm not crazy!"

"No, but you are covered in blood." I look down. Well, what do you know? He's right.

"It happens to be my own blood. So there's no need to call the cops. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be on my way." I turn on my heel and walk bang into a young man who vaguely resembles a Greek God. I remember that jaws are not meant to trail upon the floor. "How many of you are there?"

"Why do you assume we're together?"

"You all look the same," I point out. I'm starting to get impatient. And more that just a tad uneasy. They all look alike, yet different. They all appear with such silence and speed. "Dead pale, dark circles, golden eyes and - excuse my being forward - pointlessly good-looking. You must be together. And you all appeared out of bloody nowhere and I didn't hear you walk up to me, and you neither," I say pointing at the third of the men, who is looking at my front quizzically. I cross my arms protectively. "And my face is up here!" His head jerks up. "Ergo, you are all together, I'm willing to bet there are at least two more of you out here and don't even think about attacking me from behind." I point my wand directly between Edward's eyes. He raises one eyebrow. "Trust me, my friend, this is so, so much more than a stick." I'm past caring. I'm surrounded, I can feel it, and I'm getting such vibes from them. Both younger boys radiate power of some kind.

"Oh believe me, I know. I am curious as to whether it will work on me. Perhaps we should try it." I touch the wand to the point between his eyes.

"Now, I think we should all just calm down."

I can't fight the unexplainable exhausted feeling that sweeps over me. I know which of them it's coming from - the third, unexplained, unnamed blond in the wood. But I'm aware of the fact that I'm falling.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up on a cool, white couch. My head aches. The room is empty. I roll off the sofa and lunge for my wand that is on the table.

"Hello, Hermione." The third man from the woods is in an armchair directly opposite me.

"_Stupefy_!" He rockets backwards and through a window. He lies unconscious on the grass behind the house. I eye the broken window with amazement. Nothing human should have been able to do that. There were two layers of triple-glazing on that window. I jump out the window after him. "Now we're quits."

"Gee, Hermione, what did you do to Jasper?" asks Edward from behind me. He looks genuinely shocked.

"What he did to me. We are now evens. Now start talking or you can join your - what is he anyway? Brother? Team-mate? Lover? Friend? - regardless, talk, now." I look down at Jasper and nudge his body with my toe. He is rock solid. "Actually don't. I'll start summarising and you can tell me whether or not I am correct." He holds his hands up in a gesture of defeat.

"Go ahead."

EdwardPOV

She doesn't waste any time.

"Right. I knocked your brother for six. You are surprised by this. Obviously, that is not something I should have been able to do. Now, one questions why. When I met you in the woods, you appeared in microseconds. As did Carlisle, and Jasper. I heard none of you approach. Which means you are either very light - which you aren't - or you were virtually non-existent whilst you walked. I'm going with the latter. Jasper here lies at my feet rock-hard as though dead for several hours - rigor mortis. Now, I merely stunned him - and yet he appears not to be breathing. He also smashed through two layers of triple-glazed windows - and there is no blood. Nothing human should have been able to go through those windows. And when I put this between your eyes, you invited me to try and make it work on you. Which meant, that for some reason, you believed that it would not harm you. I have now proved otherwise. And I sense a power around you and your brother, like nothing I have ever felt before."

"So, then, what is your conclusion?"

"This," she says, holding out the stick, "works on every human, and once again, I remind you of your invitation."

"Yes."

"You aren't human."

"No."

"You aren't even alive." She is very calm. She meets my eyes.

"No, we are not."

"And if you are not alive, yet you are walking and talking, that leaves me with only one conclusion, Edward."

"And that is…"

"Vampires. You, Jasper on the floor there - _Enervate_ - Carlisle, and however many more of you there are: you are all vampires. You are, in effect, the undead."

"And does that bother you?" Jasper asks. His voice trembles with rage.

"You got beat, Jazz, now live with it." He glares at me. I glare right back.

"Come on then. Does it bother you? Aren't you afraid I'll eat you?"

"No."

"What do you mean, no?"

"Hermione, allow me to intervene," I insert. Jasper looks like he may combust at any second. "You are somewhat threatening my brothers masculinity. First you knock him out. Then you tell him you aren't scared of him. Now, he finds this hard to deal with, seeing as it is, by tradition, impossible for a human to knock out a vampire."

"Oh, I'm not human," she says.

"Then what are you?"

"Oh please, boys, come on." She looks impatient. "I knock your brother out with a stick. I wear robes." She looks at us both.

JPOV

She actually rolls her eyes. I glower.

"I'm a witch, you bloody idiots," she snaps. "This is not a stick. This is a wand."

"That's impossible."

"Says the vampire."

"Look, the undead have been dotted through history for years - but it is impossible for you to be a witch. Magic isn't real."

"Says the boy who essentially is magic. Don't start rankling against things you don't understand or I will have to hex you into the middle of next week." She holds her wand flat on the palm of her hand and it starts spinning. She says nothing, but it pauses. It stops on first me, then Edward, then Alice's bedroom window, glowing a different colour each time. She nods to it, and seven golden sparks fly out of the end. It then stops spinning and becomes to all intents and purposes, just a stick again.

"And what was that?"

"There are seven of you, and three of you have some defining power."

"I suppose you've already figured out what those powers are?" Edward asks.

"Of course. You can read minds. The unseen third element can see the future. And you, Jasper, you shouldn't even exist and your power is something I have never, ever encountered before. You can sense the emotions of all those around you and you can change them, manipulate them. Prophecy and mind-reading, those they have in my world. But not emotion manipulating."

"Scared of me now?"

"No. Now, look, I know there are the other five of you watching me prove beyond doubt I have magic in my fingertips, and as that is very rude, them being able to see me, and me not being able to see them, why don't they join us?"

She doesn't seem even remotely fazed by being surrounded by vampires in less that a second. She doesn't even blink. She looks at Esme surveying the broken window.

"Oh, God, sorry. Here - if you would move out of the way Edward, I can fix that." She mutters under her breath again. She doesn't use the wand. "_Reparo_." The broken shards of glass fly up, realign themselves and fit back into the frame. Emmett surveys her.

"So you're a witch?"

"Yes, I am a witch. And this is the unseen third-element, the one who sees the future? Alice, right?"

"Um, hi."

"Ah, you didn't see me coming. I can explain that. I was never meant to come. I'm here quite by accident."

"Really? What kind of accident?"

"I fell through Reality itself. I'm not even supposed to be here - jumping through Reality isn't even meant to be possible."

"So how did you manage it?"

"Time-Turner. We - back in my world - can travel through time. But my Turner malfunctioned, and I tore a hole in the fabric of Reality itself. I fell through this hole, and it opened on the other side here, in this world. I'm not bothered by vampires - because we have them back home. I have to get back. And you have to help me."

"Why?"

"Because in fourteens days, the hole in Reality will heal itself, and I will be trapped here forever. Travel through Reality isn't meant to be possible, and when it does happen, there is a limit on how long the universe can last without collapsing when it's ripped. It's like a crack in glass, right? A piece of glass cracks, it weakens, and if the glass is left, it breaks. Same principle with the universe. Unless the hole is sealed, every single Reality will collapse. Not just my world, not just this world, but every Reality, every world - and nobody knows how many worlds there are."

We stare at each other. And then she swings round and stares at Emmett, with absolute terror and _wonder_ on her face.

"Whoa, there, tiger. Easy," he says, backing up. "What's wrong?" When she doesn't answer, he looks around at the rest of us. "What's wrong with her."

"Emmett," Hermione whispers. "Don't move."

"But -"

"Don't move. I'm serious, Emmett, don't move so much as a millimetre. Stay absolutely still. I need you to trust me."

"I've only just met you."

"I know, I know. Please, I'm not going to hurt you."

"What are you going to do to him?" Rose demands. Hermione doesn't answer, instead merely running her wand, once, over Emmett.

"Who are you? No, I know. You're his mate. Well, this changes things," she murmurs the last, obviously forgetting we can hear her, so we ignore it. "I will not harm him."

"Talk to us, Hermione, that's my son."

"I have seen you before," she speaks directly to Emmett. "I have seen you before. I had a rucksack, my bag, I need it." Edward fetches her bag, and she kneels and rummages around. She produces a portrait far too large to have been inside that bag. "That's you, there."

And sure enough, there is Emmett. Looking exactly as he does now, in a portrait that moves, wearing robes.

"You're _time," _she whispers.


	4. Chapter 4

CPOV

"Back in my world, in my Reality, we are told a legend. A man who could stride from world to world, a man who made the World's. He was a god, a God of Reality. His name was unknown, but he had five sons, and a daughter, who gave up her immortality for mortality and magical powers, so she could be with her lover. She is the first magical being on record, in my world. The Son of Water, the Son of Fire, the Son of Air, the Son of Earth, and the Son of Time. There are, I believe, five Realities in the universe. I have been doing research, back in my world, research on Reality, and trying to find out whether the legends are true. Whether the stories we are all told are true. Each Reality is home to one of the five Sons, or so we believe. Or so I believe. The Ministry - we have a Ministry, a Ministry of Magic, that enforce our laws, as well as the laws of the Muggle world - don't approve of my research. I haven't been given any express order to stop, and that's probably because they have no valid reason to order me to do so. So, five Realities, and five Sons. And it all makes perfect sense, looking at you. The Son of Time is one of the immortals, it's logical really. Emmett, you may be the key I have been searching for."

"I'm just Emmett," he whispers, looking around. "I'm just Emmett. I'm not special."

"Of course you are." Hermione says, firmly, looking surprised at Emmett's assertation. "You may be one of the most special people in the universe. All I need to do is test the theory. Can you get me back to the place I met you?"

"Yes," Edward says, surprised. "Easily."

"Then lets go."

She holds a necklace with a sand timer in the centre up to the sunlight, and waves her wand, muttering under her breath. Suddenly, the clearing vanishes and we seem to be standing in an office. An oldish woman is staring at us in alarm.

"Hermione!"

"Minerva, I haven't much time. This connection lasts only three minutes, keeping it open any longer could have terrible consequences."

"Who are these people?"

"They're the Cullen family. I cannot explain now. Minerva, this man, is he at all familiar to you?" she asks, urgently, dragging Emmett forward.

"The legend of Time -" Minerva gasps.

"As I thought. Minerva, this may prove my research. If I am right, I may have a way to close the Pathways. The time limit may no longer apply."

"Hermione, this is dangerous and -"

"Then don't tell the Ministry."

"They were fairy stories. Fairy stories for children, myths of other worlds, other peoples."

"I know. But if Emmett is who I think he is, who you may be able to prove he is, then those fairy stories may turn out to be so much more."

"This is illegal."

"Then it's illegal for a reason. The Ministry must have had a reason for forcing me to stop my research. There must be more than legends and myths. Minerva, there are books in my trunk."

"Hermione, even having those books -"

"I know, Minerva, I know. But you must prove it. I'll speak to you soon, if I can. This must not go public, Minerva. Nobody can know. If we are right, we may be able to close the Pathways, we may be able to stop - well, this might give us a way to fight back. Because if the Realities are real, then so is the Gap. This could save us."

"Or destroy us."

"Are you willing to take the risk?"

"Every time."

"Give Harry and Ron my love. I have to go. I can't risk saying any longer."

"Hermione, wait! Who are these Cullen's?"

"They're vampires, Minerva. Such wonderful vampires. The Son of Time is an Immortal, Minerva, think about it."

"They know the legend?"

"Some, I have not told them all. But I will. Prove it, Minerva. Make sure it's certain."

The woman in the office nodded and then vanished. Hermione turns around, smiling.

"OK, so, Hermione…do you want to explain that to us? What is the Gap? And Pathways?"

"The Gap is the space in the middle - oh, I need pencil and paper. It works better if we draw it out."

We go back to the house, and Alice fetches Hermione drawing pad and pencil. She does a very rough sketch, five circles, touching at the outer edges, not overlapping, with a space in the middle.

"This is the Gap," she says, touching the pencil to the centre. "A void. There's nothing there. Or so we used to think. Researchers of the Realities will, sooner rather than later, come across this Gap. Now, has anything strange happened in this world? Either recently, or hundreds of years ago? Freak weather, patterns in the sky, inexplicable earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, moon acting oddly, anything at all? Atlantis rising out the ocean, has anything happened?" I exchange glances.

"Crop circles. Crop circles, the number of UFO sightings has increased in the last century. Crop circles, they're -"

"Thank you, Carlisle, but I know what a crop circle is," she says, smiling. "Can you show me them? Are there pictures?"

"Sure," Emmett says, jumping up. "Come over here." He leads her to the computer centre. He gets her up all sorts - UFO reports, crop circle documentation.

"I need access to the military files." She nudges Emmett out the way, and does some more mumbling of odd words and some wand jabbing. Within seconds, she's looking at military files.

"How the hell? Won't they detect you?" Edward asks.

"Oh, please." There's a little pause, while she taps the keyboard. "Ah, so they're covering it up."

"Covering what up? Hermione, what is in that Gap?" Jasper demands, military bearing winning over dislike.

"This is only speculative. Either these crop circles and UFO sightings are alien activity, or they're something else."

"You think something else?"

"I think something else. In my world, there's been a force of unimaginable evil. Think of the most terrifying and evil thing you can, and multiply it by ten. His name was Voldemort, and he was not quite human. He was a wizard, and a feared one. Nothing is more dangerous than a wizard so evil, he tore his soul seven times to make seven small versions of himself, so if his body was destroyed, he could return. Everyone thought he was an anomaly, an evil force that was born of hatred. I believe Voldemort was something that was not meant to be on Earth, never meant to be seen by humans. I believe that he was born of the Gap, and fell through a Pathway, which is a rift in Reality."

"You said that wasn't meant to be possible."

"It isn't. The fact that is beginning to happen means that Reality is fragmenting. It's a bad thing because if people can jump from world to world we've got issues. If Magic can come here, if you could get to my world, or the others - we don't know what all the Realities are like. My world has the daughter of Reality himself, and I believe that we used to have the Son of Water, before both disappeared - we have magic from the daughter, and various sites of religious importance around the world - all of which feature water as a holy entity. You have the Son of Time, and immortals are within your world. I would assume there are a group of higher powers? Then there are three remaining worlds. If I'm right, there will be the Son of Fire, Air and Earth left. Nobody can even begin to theorize on what the other worlds are like. Just because yours is habitable, doesn't mean the rest are. There could be hell in the next world, and can you imagine falling into that. Just because I didn't come through brandishing a deadly weapon, doesn't mean every other world is the same."

"So you're saying there could be anything out there? You're saying crop circles and UFO's could be beasts from the pit?"

"Yes."

She's so horribly matter-of-fact. But I don't miss that Jasper is practically chomping at the bit.

"So, can we fight them?"

"A soldier, before this life? A soldier, and then a soldier again. A fighter, tactician, strategist. Jasper, you may actually come in handy. We may be able to, I don't know. This world has weaponry?"

"Yes."

"What sorts?"

"Guns, bombs, nuclear weapons -"

"Nuclear weapons? What do you mean?"

"Nuclear bombs. They use radioactivity. It's a really powerful, lethal weapon. They say they could wipe out humanity," Jasper puts in, looking offended.

"That's horrible. What kind of idiots would make a weapon like that? What's wrong with you people?"

"I know."

"If I am right, however, and you had best hope I am wrong for once, your world will need those weapons."

"You're always right?"

"Always, Jasper. Fact of life, like seasons. I am always right, chances are you will be wrong."

HPOV

They all stare at me for a few minutes. Then Carlisle speaks.

"Are you saying time could be limited? That any moment now the world as we know it could be completely destroyed?"

"That has been so for millennia, Carlisle. All that has changed is that you know it now."

"Knowledge is a powerful thing."

"Very true. Jasper, you say you can fight?"

"Yes."

"Then we prepare. I will need to meet the highest authority the immortals have, they must be warned about the gap and the pathways. What can you tell me of them?" Jasper replies to me, looking to Carlisle for consent.

"I can tell you all you need to know, and it would be best if I accompanied you to the Volturi."

"This is correct. Take her to the study, Jasper, tell her the story. We'll arrange your journey."


	5. Chapter 5

JPOV

I watch her and Alice wandering through shops together. Hermione, it transpires, will not fit in any clothing we already have in the house. Despite her protests and arguments, Alice insists upon taking her shopping. She can't wear robes all the time. It did transpire that she had shirt and jeans on underneath, but no coat or jumper. Tonight, we leave for Italy.

On the plane, we talk- first class has it's advantages of being a little more private. Not to mention the fact that she and I can both speak Romany, and the chances of us being understood are negligible, especially as Edward confirmed at the airport that no other passengers or staff understood the Romany conversation we had about passports. She didn't seem worried when I tell her the story of the Volturi. She barely batted an eyelid when I told her about Maria.

"I've killed more people that I care to remember, and I remember every single one of them."

"That's what killing does to good people. It gets inside them, it roots and it hurts. And you never forget them."

"You speak like you know."

"I do. I've killed men, Jasper, killed people. And I did it for good, I did it to save the people I loved. But it doesn't make it any easier to live with."

"Hermione, who did you fight, back in your world? Who do you keep fighting?"

"I fought a man named Voldemort, at first. And that war lasted seven years. From the moment I met Harry, I knew that I would one day fight a battle. My first true fight came when I was fifteen. I didn't kill - but I certainly tried. And then the final battle came, and my entire seventeenth year was spent on the run, quite literally. I spent six months in a tent with my best friends, looking for the pieces of Voldemort's soul, so we could destroy them all, so Harry could kill Voldemort once and for all. I killed three men. I was tortured, cursed, and I lost people that I loved. But I was still fighting. There were still Death Eaters - followers of Voldemort - roaming around, killing Muggles - people who were not magical - Muggleborns - people who were born to Muggle parents. I was trying to stop them, have them arrested and locked up."

"How old are you, Hermione?"

"Eighteen. Just last September. I already feel a hundred."

"You haven't had an easy ride."

"No, no I have not. Once, during our mission to destroy the Horcruxes, we were captured. We were taken to a woman named Bellatrix Lestrange, and a family called the Malfoys. Harry and Ron were taken to the dungeon to be locked up. Bellatrix kept me back. And she tortured me, tortured me for information, the Cruciatus Curse over and over again."

"The Cruciatus Curse?" Her mouth twists.

"Yes. It causes pain, agonising pain. It's like being set on fire, it's like having hot knives shoved through your flesh. It's so painful, all you can do is scream. But it's very effective. It's pain that you would do anything, anything in the world to stop. I thought I would go crazy, or die. I told her nothing. But it cost me dearly." She pushes the sleeve of her sweater back. A word carved into her skin reads "Mudblood".

"What does it mean?"

"It means dirty blood. Mudblood is the derogatory term for someone who is Muggleborn - someone whose parents are not magical -, someone like me. When I refused to tell her what she wanted to know, she marked me forever. If she had thrown me to the Death Eaters with that carved into me, I would have been a plaything for death. But we got out, an Elf named Dobby saved our lives - at the expense of his own."

"What happened to Bellatrix?"

"She was killed by Molly Weasley during the Final Battle. I watched her go down, and I felt such pleasure." Her smile is positively feral. For a moment, I feel a twinge where my heart ought be, and realise that it is fear. "People always try and say that they felt nothing when somebody they hated dies. That's nonsense, and I don't believe in denying feelings. I would have cheerfully danced on her grave."

"Can I get either of you a drink?" The hostess is pleasant and smiling, and Hermione answers it with an equally sunny smile.

"I will have an orange juice and lemonade please, without the bits."

"Certainly, Ma'am. Sir?"

"Nothing, thank you." The hostess leaves again, and Hermione turns back to me.

"So Jasper - tell me what to expect from the Volturi. Oh no," she says, as I open my mouth, "telling me who they are is not the same. Do I defend, fight or flight?"

"Keep your abilities hidden at first. Although, from Aro that will be hard. Can you stop people from entering your mind?"

"Yes, if I so wish. But only if they try and enter by magical means, I don't know how good I'll be against telepathy."

"If you can, do so. It will give us an advantage, and they're more likely to listen if Aro cannot immediately discover what he wants. Be careful of Caius, he will be wary of you, and he will try and antagonise you. He'll use any excuse to remove you. Marcus is the third, and he is most dangerous. We know nothing about him, so therefore he is the one you always watch out of the corner of your eye."

"I understand, Jasper." The hostess brings her drink, which she sips slowly. While I watch her, wondering how something that smells so vile can possible be enjoyed, something she said earlier springs suddenly to mind.

"Hermione, can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Earlier, when we were talking about killing and you said it influenced good people -"

"You are good, Jasper. You got out, found the strength to break away, found a way to live, and you and only you made those decisions. You and I have both done some terrible, terrible things, and there is no denying it. But you have turned away from it, and I have had the need to do those terrible things negated. I would do them again, if I had to. And so would you - if today, it suddenly became impossible to avoid human blood, if it stopped being an option to do what you do now, you would turn back to it, no matter how much your heart would scream against it. Basic instinct is a very difficult thing to overcome." I stare at her, pretty much speechless. It's the straightest speech anyone has ever given me, and for the very first time since leaving Maria, I feel less like I'm bursting at the seams, and more like I'm in control. She's right - everything was my choice.

And then it hits me like a speeding train.

"Edward," I say, switching back to English. "Edward, come over here, now."

HPOV

Both boys are silent, but I can tell that some kind of mental communication is happening. Ah, yes, Edward's mind reading. I coolly enter in, using silent Leglimency, choosing Edward's mind. Well, this is _fascinating_. Everything Jasper thinks, I hear, as well as what Edward, Emmett, Rose, Carlisle, Alice and Esme are thinking, as well as learning what the hostess is planning for dinner. However, I tune out the background, and listen to Jasper, watching Edward answering his questions by shaking his head either yes or no.

-_Can you read her mind? _

_-No._

_-Have you ever been able to? _

_-Yes._

_-When we met her in the woods?_

_-Yes._

_-But you can't now?_

_-No._

_-Aro._

_-Yes._

I choose when to interrupt.

"The skill I am using to block out Edward is called Occlumency. The skill I just used to infiltrate your mind, Edward, and listen in to your conversation, is called Leglimency. Now we know that I can defend against Aro. Is his power the same as yours?"

"Aro has to be touching you, but -"

"Physical contact can be repelled if it must be, but that would reveal me. How long do we hide my magic?"

"How fast can you use that wand?"

"Pretty damn quick."

"But I'm assuming not vampire speed?" She and I have slipped back into Romany, Edward following in my head.

"No, I doubt that."

"Then we wait until we're losing them, as we probably will. I doubt Aro will believe us, Caius certainly won't. If or when Aro tires of us, we will need you to prove that you are magical. What can you do that won't be harmful?"

"Produce water, sparks, bunches of flowers, turn a chair into a mouse - plenty of things. Shall I pick the most impressive?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't do anything involving fire. They'll only feel threatened and hostility would be too much to control."

"Is that how to destroy your people?"

"Tear us into pieces, then set the pieces on fire." I look at him, vaguely amused by the look of challenge in his eyes.

"Believe me, Jasper, I have no plans to kill you. I was merely curious. I will avoid fire. Of course, I suppose it could also be a means of control, but I will not use it, unless you advise it."

"What else can you do?" Jasper asks, sounding curious

"Plenty. I can be invisible if I wish. I can be unnoticed. I can move from place to place with a snap of my fingers - they call it Apparation, in my world. And plenty of tricks, make a pocket watch sing, summon something that is far away from me, breathe underwater if I have the right equipment, make Potions to treat almost anything imaginable, make Potions to cause things to happen. I can do a great many things." A troubling thought crosses my mind. "And if I don't get back to my world - many of those things will become impossible." He's clearly bursting to ask me something, and Edward turns away and goes to sit back down. His question is private.

"If you wanted to, Hermione - if someone asked you to - could you make a specific Potion?"

"That would depend on the Potion." He takes a deep breath and his eyes, those beautiful golden eyes are burning with intensity that almost makes me want to coil back and take up a defensive. Whatever this Potion is, it will mean a great deal to him.

"Could you make me human?"


	6. Chapter 6

JPOV

She stares at me, her brown eyes like saucers. I stare back, desperate for an answer. Could she do it? Can this young woman, who has done so much, is capable of so much, whose world is an incredible place where almost everything seems to be possible - can she make me human? Can she restore a humanity that I believed was lost for ever, can she give me freedom?

I am so tired of immortality. I want to feel pain again, I want to feel hot sun and cold wind, I want to be able to eat human food, drink human drinks, and never again have to look at a human and think of them as food. I want to taste something that isn't blood, I want to feel hunger and the satisfaction of a good meal. I want to look at animals and humans, and not have them curl away from me, knowing that I am dangerous. I want to look at young women, and imagine their soft skin under my hands, and not have to know that with a flick, I could kill them. I want to walk down a busy sidewalk, and not be in constant pain, I want to feel the sunlight on my skin. But most of all, I want to know that one day, I will die an old man, with children and grandchildren.

She is still staring at me.

"Let me get this straight. You are asking me if there is a Potion that could undo your immortality. You are asking me if there is something I could make or cast to make you human again."

"Yes."

"Is this a hypothetical question, or a genuine desire, Jasper?"

"It's what I want, Hermione. What I need. Hermione, listen. Try and see this from my point of view. I have lived for one hundred and fifty long years. The chance of me ever being able to die is slim. I will never live a normal life. But at the same time, that is what I want. To be human, to do human stuff, to sleep, to dream, to eat and breathe and blink. I want to run and get out of breath, and I want to feel pain. I want to feel emotions that are exclusively mine, and not wonder if they are just coming from somebody else. I want to feel my heart beating again."

"Yes. It is possible."

"There is a way?" I say, hope leaping up. "You are saying that there is theory on it."

"Yes, there is _theory_ on it. And it has been done once before, in the past. But there were side-effects. And this is not the time to discuss it. I have neither the time nor the information available to explain it to you, not to mention explaining the risks and the possible outcomes of such an act."

"But you will explain it to me?" I persist. I can't, won't, let this go.

"Yes, Jasper, I will explain it to you, but this is neither the time nor the place to do it. And anyway, we're about to land."

She doesn't speak to me, or anyone, on the way to Volterra, to which we drive at high speed. It's faster than running, especially with Hermione. She needs to be as calm as humanly possible. The drive is not a long one, and Alice points the city out.

"Volterra. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Oh, very. But the most beautiful things can often be the most dangerous. There is evil here."

"Centuries of it."

"Shit," Carlisle says, flatly. He so rarely swears, I turn to him in surprise. Then I turn back to road, the only road into Volterra, and see three black figures standing, sentinel-like, in front of the city walls. Carlisle stops the car - as if he ever had a choice. We all get out, Hermione included. The sun is hidden behind thin cotton clouds, which could break any moment.

"Have you inherited the gift of prophecy, Jane? You seem remarkably prepared for our arrival - even outside, when the sun could break at any moment."

"In five minutes," Alice says, quietly.

"We're only here to escort you all to Aro. You were spotted, Carlisle, at the airport. We have our contacts."

"I am aware of it, Jane. Perhaps you forget that I too, once stayed here for a time. I expected that."

"You bring a human."

"Yes."

"I assume you have reason."

"Reasons which are none of your business. I will explain to the necessary parties, and you are not one of them."

"We will take you there. Felix, Demetri - the girl." I see the flash on Hermione's face, and shake my head at her. She must not react, not yet.

"I will come with you willingly, and I will thank you to remove your hands from me. I am here for a reason, and a reason that must be explained or we are all at risk, therefore I am hardly likely to make a break for it. Not, of course, that I would get very far." Her gaze is clear and steady, and even Felix steps back slightly. Demetri smiles, and comments something to him, too quiet for Hermione to hear, but plenty loud enough for the rest of us. I feel my fists clench. Emmett clamps a hand down on my shoulder.

"Simmer down, Major. We don't need to parade in there with little bits of Demetri on our clothes, as satisfying as it might be. Besides - Hermione can handle herself, I'm sure."

She can. She doesn't even flinch when we are shown into the chamber, and twenty vampires inhale. They have a point. She smells good. Aro demands peace, and the crowd parts. The three are seated on their chairs, and Hermione raises her eyebrows. Edward chuckles quietly, and I realise that Hermione is not using Occlumency. Vampiric memory can come in handy for remembering her little spells. I'll have to ask her what she thought later.

"Carlisle, welcome back to our little city. It has been too long, my friend."

"Perhaps. But I am not merely making a social call, Aro."

"No, I did not expect so." Aro breaks off, and Caius leaps into the breach.

"You have brought a human to us. You know the laws, Carlisle - or are you so lacking that you must bring her to us?"

"I know them, but first you must hear what she has to say, and then you will understand why neither you, nor I, nor anyone else will harm her. This is Hermione Granger."

"Gentlemen."

"Delightful to make your acquaintance, Miss Granger." Aro holds out his hand for her to shake. Her lips quirk, and she places her hand in his, and shakes. He hangs onto her, and his face creases. "How very - odd."

"Aro?" Caius asks, even managing to make a name sound threatening.

"She is silent to me."

"Because you have not yet heard what I have come to say. I will not remain silent to you for long, but first you must hear my story."

"That is impossible," Marcus breathes, half-rising from his chair. "That is impossible."

"And yet, it is not. Edward can hear me now."

"Confirmed. She's thinking that you should listen."

"I have only your word on that, Edward," Aro replies, smoothly.

"It must be enough," Hermione snaps, and Aro looks surprised. "Can I, or can I not, tell you what I have come to tell you?"

"By all means," Aro says, and there is a mocking tone to his voice. "You have the floor, Miss Granger."

"I come from another Reality," she begins, calmly. "I come from a different world. Believe me or not - but you may all be in mortal danger, danger that would effect even you, the undead. I have theories - theories about five different worlds, and a Gap between them. That Gap is the seat and root of everything evil in the universe. Once, something from that Gap - or so I believe - fell through a Pathway, which is a rift in Reality, and ended up in my world. They called him Voldemort, and he was truly evil. He tore his soul seven times, and gave himself seven chances at life. He killed countless people for being of the wrong bloodline. He killed hundred, thousands, in order to take over my world. He killed for fun.

"In order to truly understand, you must know that there are five Realities, or so I believe. A God once existed, a God who made the worlds. He had five sons and a daughter. The daughter gave up her immortality for mortality and magical powers, so she could spend her life with the man she loved. There are five Realities. My world had the daughter and the Son of Water. This world has the Son of Time. There, in theory, three more worlds and three more sons. The Son of Fire, the Son of Air, the Son of Earth. I fell through a rift in Reality, and I have twelve days to return to my world or be stuck here forever - unless I can find, enter, and neutralise the Gap. If I do not accomplish this task, Reality will collapse and the Worlds will fall. You will all die." She pauses, and looks around. There is deadly silence. "Emmett, step forward. This man is the Son of Time. An immortal, no less. I have told you that my world had the Son of Water - various sites of religious importance around the world, all featuring water - and the only daughter of the Reality God, who exchanged immortality for mortality and magical powers."

"Miss Granger, you cannot seriously expect us to believe any of this exaggerated nonsense. Gaps, Gods, Pathways, magical powers - you are insane." Caius spits his words out, a sneer ever present.

"You remind me of my Potions professor, at Hogwarts - my old school. He too had a viciously limited imagination and a fierce dislike for whatever he failed to understand. He also wore the same self-righteous, stuck-up sneer you now wear."

"How _dare _you speak to me like that -"

"I dare because I am _right_. If you want me to prove it, I will."

"Please do."

"Very well. Jasper, how big and impressive should I make this?"

"Oh, very. Big as you can, but remember what we said about fire."

"Will everybody please clear me a space." She draws her wand from inside her jacket pocket, and waves it. She says nothing, but the next thing we know, we are no longer inside the hall at Volterra. We are in a forest, and Hermione has disappeared. Cries of disbelief echo around us. Suddenly, Hermione's voice echoes eerily from somewhere in the darkness beyond the clearing we are gathered in. "Welcome to the Forbidden Forest, a forest in the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I advise you not to touch anything. The forest is merely an illusion. I appreciate that it is disorientating. Now, watch closely, and remember to touch nothing. The forest may be an illusion - but perhaps not everything is."

Everything suddenly seems to spring to life, trees seems to move and shriek, howls rise from the darkness, galloping hooves can be heard, and a long scream is rushing closer. Seconds later, a skeletal animal burst through the trees, and rears onto it's hind legs. It looks like a horse, but with immense wings, and, well - a _skeleton. _I feel fear from all sides. Alice cries out, a timid sound that falls so eerily into the dark that she stops immediately. Arrows rain from all sides, arrows that dissolve upon hitting the ground into puddles of water. The crowd draws together, as skinny wolves begin to crowd into the clearing, snapping at retreating robes and howling in triumph. Finally, Hermione emerges from the trees, and puts a hand onto the head of the closest wolf. The wolf leans into her hand, growling in it's chest.

"Are you convinced, Aro? Shall I continue my little illusion? If it really is an illusion. That's the thing, isn't it? Finding out what is real and what is not. Funny - because the wolves seem pretty real to me. I can do things you cannot even imagine, Aro. I have done things you cannot imagine. The creature you see is a Thestral. They can only be seen by people who have seen death, and I would wager we have all seen that. Shall I continue? There are more tricks." The darkness visibly thickens, draws in until it is tight around the crowd, and not even we can penetrate it. Hermione and the wolves are now invisible, but the howls are almost tangible. I fancy that were I to reach out, I could touch the darkness, feel it as an organism, living and breathing beneath my fingers. A wind springs up, screaming through unseen branches, magnifying the howls and the screams and screeches of creatures I cannot see, and ripping through clothes and hair. Alice is now physically cringing against me, Edward unseen in the darkness.

"Stop this!" Aro shouts. "It is enough!"

As quickly as it came, the forest vanishes. But Hermione is gone, and instead a golden eagle is perched on Aro's throne. It spreads an awesome wing span and lets out a screech, before taking off into the air. It lands on the floor, and transforms from the feet up into Hermione.

"My Animagus form. An animal I can choose to become." Everyone is staring at her. Finally, Aro clears his throat.

"What do we have to do?"


	7. Chapter 7

JPOV

There is, as it turns out, little we can do. We have to wait for Hermione to work out the final stages of her plan. The visit to the Volturi was simply to warn them of what might come, that regardless of what may appear, they were not to attempt to fight it. But Aro can't resist testing Hermione further.

"You are able to resist me. I wonder if you can also resist some of our other talents."

"Aro, if I told you that this is a bad idea, would it stop you?" Carlisle says, with a tired sigh.

"Jane." Hermione and Jane face off, and I can feel the pain that Jane is pushing out. Hermione doesn't even flinch, but I see her hand tighten on her wand.

"Jane, I would stop now." I feel no flicker from Jane. "Jane, I advise you to stop your attack," Hermione repeats, raising her wand. "I will use this on you." Nothing. "Then you leave me little choice. _Stupefy!" _Jane flies backwards and crashes to the ground. "Test me again, Aro, I dare you. We'll see which of us comes off the better."

"What have you done to my sister?" Alec cries, kneeling by her side.

"Believe me friend, I could have done worse. She is fine, simply unconscious. If she tries that on me again, I will give her a much needed taste of her own medicine. I may even contemplate reviving her, if you're really nice to me. Now, to repeat: if you see anything suspicious, I deal with it, not you. Understood?"

"Fully. We thank you for your visit." She does revive Jane, before we leave, and leaves a hall in uproar.

Hermione slips me a note as we're packing up from the plane. She looks exhausted, but I suppose she did just fly to Italy and back in a day. She falls asleep on my shoulder on the way home, and I carry her into the house when we finally get back.

"Esme, where's she going to sleep?"

"Well, the only bed that's not going to disturb more than one person if used is yours. You won't mind, will you? I mean, we could put her on the couch -"

"No, I won't be using it." Alice steps forward, and takes Hermione from my arms.

"I'll get her changed and tucked in. It's easy to forget sometimes, that humans need rest." As Alice bears Hermione upstairs, I retire to the den, and open Hermione's note.

_Jasper -_

_We can talk tomorrow about the Potion you requested. I have been thinking about it, and I believe that I will be able to make it in this world. I can remember the ingredients, and I think I have a book on Advanced Potions in my bag. I always over-pack on missions. However, we need to discuss a great deal before I even consider it - as the Potion is irreversible. Once it is made, and you have taken it, you will be mortal forever. If another vampire were to bite you, you would die instantly. You need to be certain before we do this. _

_Hermione._

HPOV

I wake up in a bed the next morning, in a clean nightdress that I don't remember putting on. I get up, go towards a door in the opposite wall. It's a bathroom, and that's all I care about right now. I shower, wash my hair, and then stand under the spray, thinking about the previous day. I don't even know what time it is. Where's my watch? I remember the Volturi, I remember the flight home, I remember getting into the car to drive here - I must be back at the Cullen's house. I wonder which bedroom I'm sleeping in. Or whose, if it comes to that. When I walk back out of the bathroom, having dried off, and sorted my hair with a quick charm, there's clothes on the bed, and a note.

_Hermione -_

_Come on down whenever you're ready. Esme's making up some breakfast for you, so I hope you like sausage sandwiches. _

_Jasper_

My watch has been placed on the nightstand, and I put it back onto my wrist - it's gone eleven. I feel a bit sheepish about that - they must think I'm terribly rude. I dress quickly, make the bed neatly, and fold the nightie onto the pillow. I make my way downstairs, but then stop. I can't remember actually seeing any more of the house apart from the den, and now the unidentified bedroom. I have no idea where to go from here. I muffle a shriek when Jasper appears out of nowhere, managing to turn it into a gasp.

"I'd rather you didn't use that on me," he says, lightly, gesturing at the wand which I automatically raised to defend myself with.

"Sorry, force of habit. Try not to creep up on me." But I don't lower it right away.

"I won't. You're pretty scary when you're holding that thing."

"I take that as a compliment." I put the wand away, and he smiles at me. How is it alright for just his smile to make my stomach jump?

"Breakfast is this way, if you want it."

"I'd love it." He leads me off a narrow corridor, into a big, spacious kitchen, which smells amazing right now. Esme offers me the sunniest smile I've ever seen, and turns from the stove with a big plate in her hands. She's made me up a sausage sandwich, a fried egg and beans. "Thank you," I say shyly, taking the plate. I perch at the table, and dig in enthusiastically. "This is lovely, thank you, Mrs Cullen." Esme laughs, and shakes her head at me.

"Oh, honey, call me Esme." Carlisle comes in, and smiles at me. They're all so friendly, these people who have taken me in, fed and clothed me, when all I've given them in return is bad news.

Emmett and Jasper take me through to the living room after I've eaten.

"So, what do we do now?"

"I need to run some spells. They'll reveal the extent of the damage to the universe, and then I can start fixing it."

"How will you fix it?"

"Complicated spells. Spells that have to go right, or I will cause more damage. It will take days, perhaps weeks, to fix the damage." I take a deep breath, and look up at Jasper. "I will not get back to my world," I say, slowly. "There has to be a magical presence in two of the worlds to fix it. I am never going to be able to go home. I need to start making plans. I need to say goodbye."

JPOV

I wonder when she realised this, realised that she was here forever. She'll never see her friends again. For the first time, I wonder how many sacrifices she will willingly make to ensure the safety of everyone else. How many sacrifices she's already made to save people.

"Hermione, if you'd acted the day you arrived - could you have gotten back?"

"Yes. I could have done. But then what? Was I just supposed to sit back and watch the universe rip itself apart knowing that I could have done something but didn't? I couldn't have lived with myself after that." Emmett goes off after that, presumably to do something for Rosalie. I think I remember her saying something about a broken drawer. She stands, and crosses to the windows. She's silent and still, and if I was outside the room and she didn't have a scent, she'd be invisible to me. "Jasper, I cannot start work on the spell until nightfall. Is there somewhere we can go to discuss the Potion?"

"Yes. I'll carry you, with your permission. The place I am thinking of is not accessible by car."

"Um. OK?"

When I put her down in the clearing, she takes a step before sitting down hard. She fans her face, and takes some steadying breaths.

"You alright down there?"

"I never did like flying."

"We weren't flying," I say, amused. "I was just running. You nearly throttled me."

"Well, it damn well felt like flying." She pushes back to her feet. "OK, I think I'm steadier now. I think I'll keep my eyes closed on the way back." She looks around the clearing, and a smile lights up her face. "This is beautiful," she murmurs.

I found it while out running one day, searching for an animal to hunt. It makes a perfect circle, and all the trees around it are exactly the same height, huge oaks that tower over us. Wildflowers are pretty much everywhere, surrounding a huge old log in the centre of the clearing itself. Hermione crosses to this log and swings her leg over it.

"So, lets talk about this. Sit with me, Jasper?" I cross over to her, and join her on the log. She pulls a book out of her pocket that's the size of a stamp, and taps it with her wand. It gets back to its proper size, and she opens it. "This is the Potion. Can all these ingredients be found in this world?" I scan the list, and nod.

"Yes, they can be. But one of them may be an issue. It asks for venom here - but whose venom?"

"I would need yours, but it would need to be done very specifically. And I need to know certain things. About how you were changed mostly."

"What do you need to know?"

"Who changed you?"

"A woman named Maria."

"Why?"

"So I could make her an army of new-borns to fight for hunting rights in the Southern States during the American Civil War."

"How were you?"

"I don't understand."

"Sorry, that wasn't very clear. Were you in good health when this Maria changed you?"

"Yes. I am the only person in the family, apart from Carlisle, who was not changed at death's door. And we aren't sure about Alice. She doesn't know her story."

"Then this is possible. If you change a person from vampire to human who was changed while near death their human form will be unable to control it, and the change would kill them. If you were in good health, then you'll wake up in that good health. Of course it being the American Civil War you might not be in brilliant health but you'll be strong enough to survive it."

"That's comforting."

"OK. Lets get down to the technicalities. Potions isn't about wands and spells, it relies on the magic of the world around us. When is the next full moon?"

"Next week, on Friday. Friday the thirteenth, coincidentally."

"Really? Well, that couldn't be any better. The Potion must be brewed beforehand, then I must add your venom to the mixture once it's cooled down, and then the Potion must spend the night in the open under a full moon. At midnight, it will need human blood to be added to it. We'll use mine, but then we come to the side effects of this Potion."

"Tell me."

"As I have mentioned to you, the Potion is permanent and irreversible. Once mortal, you will never be able to regain your immortality. Vampire venom would become deadly to you. You would also lose the power you have - the ability to manipulate and sense emotions stems from your immortality. I have to tell you that the transformation from vampire to human would be excruciatingly painful. I can probably numb the pain a little, but I'm afraid I don't have the ability here to keep you from feeling most of it. You have to be prepared for that. And the most major side-effect of this particular Potion comes from the fact that we would have to use my blood in the Potion. I would become your creator. You would have a bond to me for the rest of your life. Nothing intense, but it would mean that you'll share my blood type, and be exposed to all the illnesses I have the potential to contract. And of course, there could be other effects. This Potion, to the extent of our knowledge, has been used twice only in the past. Both times, there were - issues."

"What sort of issues?"

"The Potion failed to work fully. The first time it was used, it was documented that while the subject became human, he could only survive on blood. The Potion failed to change him enough. The second time - the drinker became emotionally and physically bonded to the maker. They were unable to be away from each other, and when the maker died an untimely death, the drinker died the same evening, unable to live without the heart that had kept him alive. It would be my blood in your veins, Jasper. There is a risk that when my heart stopped beating, you would die too. You have to understand that while this Potion can work - it may not. It's never worked perfectly before, and we would have to give all our time to brewing it. You have to decide if this what you truly want, and they all deserve to know about what we're planning. It wouldn't surprise me if Alice knows already. They're your family, and this will affect them too."

"I know. But Hermione, I'm already certain. If you're willing to do this for me, then I'm willing to take the risks. This is what I want, Hermione." She looks at me, her eyes sharp and bright. I look back, hardly daring to hope. Finally, she leans forwards, and puts her arms around me. I return her hug, reflecting how well she fits into my arms, how right her head feels on my shoulder. What the hell is this?

"I'll do it, Jasper. Talk to your family first, without me there. I can explain whatever they need me to, but you need to tell them what you have decided first. Can you get the ingredients for me?"

"Yes. Thank you, Hermione. With all my heart, thank you."


	8. Chapter 8

JPOV

Alice steps out in front of us when I've been running for less than a minute. We're maybe a third of the way back to the house. Before I can tell Hermione that we aren't back yet, she's let go and thumped to the ground.

"Um, we aren't back yet."

"I don't care. Can we walk?"

"It'd take two hours."

"Honey, that's just fine."

"Alice, can we help?" I say, and Hermione looks up.

"Jasper, I know why she's here. You've had a vision."

"Jasper blurred. That can only mean one thing. I saw him as a human. He's made a choice. But it can't even be possible."

"Shouldn't you know why it is?"

"I would, but I can't see you in my visions. I don't know why that is, but I can't. What are you doing, Jasper? What will you do?"

"Alice, if you've seen it -"

"With no alternative -"

"Then you know. I am going to become human. Alice, please understand. None of us chose this life. But I was the only one not at death's door when I was changed. Apart from possibly you, and obviously Carlisle."

"Why would you do this. How would you let him!" she rounds on Hermione. "What gives you the right to just walk in here and ruin our family?"

"I'm not trying to ruin your family, Alice, I -"

"Don't tell me that you know, don't tell me that you're trying to do what's best! He's my brother, I know him, you're just the latest new toy -"

"OK, don't you dare accuse me of that! All I want to do is help."

"Alice, I can speak for myself -"

"You're family! She's just turned up. You'd chose her over us?"

"Alice, you know that this isn't about choosing between you. Hermione is offering me a way out."

"Out of what? Don't you love us anymore?"

"Oh, Alice."

"No, Jasper. You need to speak to your family. I'll go." Hermione turns away and then snaps into thin air. I stare at the spot that she was standing in not two seconds ago, and then turn back to Alice.

"What have you done?"

"Me? What's she done, that's what you should ask! She turns up here talking about monsters and Gaps and souls in seven pieces and god knows what else and now you want to be human all of a sudden? What is this, Jasper, what is it? You fancy her, is that it, you want to get her into bed? Go for that, see how it works, because you'd kill her in seconds!"

"You see, Alice, that is why I need this!" I bellow in frustration. "I want to die, damnit! I want to die old and grey and sitting in a house with the woman I love by my side and I want to inhale a human without wanting to leap on them and drain them dry! Is that really so wrong of me?"

"I don't get it, Jasper! You've never said anything about this before! Then exciting new Hermione shows up with her spells and her curses and snap! you want to be human. There are other ways to get off with someone, you don't need to change into a human to do it!"

"Alice, do you seriously think that this is why I'm doing this, so I can get off with Hermione?"

"To me, yeah, that's what it looks like."

"Then you're a bloody idiot, Alice. I'll explain to you later why I am going to do this, when I explain to everybody else. I'm going after Hermione."

"Jasper -" She grabs for my arm, but I shake her off.

"I thought better of you."

I follow the trail back to the clearing, and when I get close enough, I pick up two lots of her scent - one slightly less fresh, the other blazing hot. Sure enough she's lying on the grass, looking up at a rare blue sky. I step into the sunshine, and she looks over at me, looks away, and then stares back at me so sharply I hear her neck crack. She doesn't say anything for several long minutes.

"I sparkle in the sunshine." I say, in a bid to break the tension.

"Yeah, I noticed."

"I bet. The staring thing is making me uncomfortable."

"Sorry. I just - I've never seen anything so beautiful."

"Well, thank you, ma'am," I say, playfully, laying on the Southern accent. She sits up, and I go over to her. "Alice is just upset."

"She's right. What must I look to them? I've come here, I've thrown bad news after bit of bad news at them and now you plan to become human with my help. I must seem like everything she called me and everything she implied." I drop down next to her and push a bit of hair off her shoulder, to fall in with the rest of her curls. She looks at me, and for a moment, she's close enough - I could kiss her. But instead, I put my arms around her, and she leans onto my chest. I swiftly arrange us so I'm leaning back against the log, and she's curled in front of me, her head on my chest. "Getting comfortable?" she asks, with a soft laugh that's muffled by tears.

"You need a lot of hugging, I can feel it. We may as well get comfy for said hugging."

"Look, Jasper. Lets put our cards on the table. I like you. You're funny, you're brave, you're strong, you're kind and hey, you're pretty damn handsome in with it. What girl wouldn't want all that? But I've grown up in an environment that doesn't exactly support romance. And now is hardly the time for me to be falling for you."

"Hermione, you ever think that maybe you give things more though than you need to?"

"It's been said."

"I'm going back, to talk to my family. They need to know from me. Edward has probably seen it already in Alice's head, so they will know there's been a vision. We have few secrets in our family."

"But you kept this secret."

"I knew nothing could be done. Why worry them, why make them carry my burden when they couldn't help?"

"You're a good man, Jasper."

"Still want to walk home?"

"Maybe not. Can we stay here, just a little longer? Not to talk, just to sit, like this."

"OK."

She was so quiet for so long I thought she might be asleep. Suddenly, she stirred.

"We should be getting back. They'll be wondering where we are. They'll think I kidnapped you."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Ooooo, don't tempt me."


	9. Chapter 9

JPOV

"And so, with Hermione's help, I plan to become human. She'll start work on the Potion on Friday morning. Next Friday, she needs the full moon. Hermione can explain the technicalities. But as I have explained, I have made my choice."

"Jasper, you've never said anything -" Esme says, sadness pinching her face.

"But you've thought it. You do a good job, for the most part, blocking me out. But every thought you've ever had about becoming human has been so obvious it's like you're screaming them at me. I never said because it was none of my business." Edward gets up, comes to stand by me.

"Thank you," I say, smiling at him. He grins back.

"Am I the only one horrified by this?" Alice demands, a sulky look none of us recognise on her face.

"Pretty much. If it's what you really, truly want - then I'll help Hermione in any way I can, with your transformation." Carlisle says. Esme gets up and pulls me into a hug. I know it means everything that she can't say right now. I return it, and then she slips her hand into mine briefly, before going into the kitchen. Carlisle goes after her.

"Will we still be able to see you - after, I mean?" Emmett asks.

"Yes, of course. You're still my family, I'm not just going to up and leave."

"In a way, you are. Face it, Jasper, if you become human - you'll die. One day, you're going to get old and die," he says, quietly.

"Well, yes. But in many ways - in fact, in every way, I want to do that. I want to get old and die. Immortality isn't for me, I knew that decades ago." Alice is still looking immensely sulky. Suddenly, she's on her feet and out of the house. Edward makes to go after her, but Emmett stops him.

"Let her go, Edward. Give her some time to calm down, then go after her. I say we ask Hermione to explain exactly how all this will go about."

"I'll get her," Rosalie volunteers, zipping upstairs. They come down together, Hermione looking pensive. She comes over to sit beside me, and I send her some reassurance.

"Hermione, can you explain to us exactly how this potion will work, what it will do, and any side effects it may have on Jasper?"

"I can. The Potion will work by diluting his blood, sorting out his system so he can ingest food and drink again, and restarting his heart. I really don't understand all the mechanics about it - but I imagine it works just as his transformation from human to vampire did, only in reverse. This does mean that it will be horrifically painful. There are spells I can perform - I can ease the pain a little, but it would be unwise to stop him feeling it completely. Of course, vampires are stronger than humans - there's no way of telling that the pain won't drive him insane. Side effects - I can only be honest with you - we know some of them. But there may be side-effects that haven't yet been recorded. This Potion has only ever been used twice. It's permanent and totally irreversible. Venom would be exactly that to him - it'd kill him instantly. Also, I need both his venom and my blood in the potion. This has the effect of me becoming his creator. He'll be bonded to me forever. We can hope that all that will mean is him sharing my blood-type, and my immune system. However, in a previous usage of this potion, maker and taker were bonded far more seriously. When the maker died, the taker was dead the same day, despite being in perfect health."

"So, you're saying there are risks?"

"Yes. And add to that the fact that I have never made this Potion before. Ever. Now I am pretty good - but so much rides on getting it right."

"If Jasper trusts you, then so do we. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You could get me morphine. We could use it to numb the pain as far as possible. And it would be very helpful if I didn't need to butcher myself to get blood - could you take it?"

"Of course. How much will you need?" She winces a little.

"Three pints."

"You know, as a doctor, I can categorically state that it isn't a very good idea to take that much blood all at once." Hermione goes out into the hall, produces her rucksack, and starts rummaging. Once more, I'm amazed to see her entire arm disappear into the depths.

"OK, I'm never going to find it. _Accio blue vials!" _Five small glass vials zoom up out of the rucksack and line themselves up neatly on the coffee table in front of Hermione. "Blood-Replenisher. You take the blood, then I drink one of these immediately after."

"That's genius. I don't suppose I could patent that stuff? Medical science -"

"Carlisle, you and I can discuss that later," Hermione jokes. "And all the reasons why that wouldn't be a very good idea. But now, it's sunset. I have to start work on the repairs. I need to get back to where you found me."

When we get back, there is a very clear picture of the office we saw the first time. Hermione frowns.

"Things are progressing faster than I thought. This is bad. Minerva! Oh, please don't be out… Minerva!" Somebody answers her, a mans voice, although I can't see anybody apart from the people in the pictures.

"Miss Granger?"

"Severus! Do you know where Minerva is?"

"She stepped out. She will be back soon."

"Can you see me?"

"Yes. It has been getting increasingly worse. Phineas and Ambrose have had to vacate, you know."

"Wait, I have an idea." She turns back to me. "Jasper, do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Take my hand." I do so, and she pulls me forward. I step through something that feels like a dry waterfall, followed by a terrible squeezing sensation, and then a hot flush. "Steady, Jasper, it's horrible disorientating the first time." When I open my eyes, I'm standing in the office. I spin around, stare behind me - into the clearing we were standing in not seconds before.

"Did I just cross a universe?"

"Yes. Welcome to Hogwarts. The pictures can move and talk and people do magic at will. And this," she says, smiling, "is Severus Snape." She gestures to a man with dark hair and black eyes, glaring down from a portrait on the wall.

"Err, hi."

"Who is this young man, Miss Granger?"

"Severus, this is Jasper Whitlock. He's not young either, he's 167." Just then, the office door opens, and the woman I saw before come in, followed by a boy with messy black hair and glasses.

"Hermione! When Phineas told me, I couldn't believe it!"

"Me neither. Harry, come here to me." The boy rushes at her, sweeping her into a hug.

"I thought I'd never see you again," he mumbles fiercely, holding her tightly. I feel a rush of jealousy and surprise myself with the urge to snatch her away from him. She puts him away from her gently, and smiles at him.

"Harry, you should know me better than that. Minerva, you don't need me to tell you how bad things are getting. By my estimation - the two weeks is out the window, gone, dead, useless. We're working on a different time-frame now. We have days."

"Four, by my guess," Severus the portrait says.

"Four days to save the world. A bit less than last time, eh Harry?"

"Seven years down to four days. If it wasn't you doing it, I'd say it was impossible."

"I have to tell you all something. I - you will never see me again. There has to be a magical presence in two worlds to close the tears. Fortunately, the Gap seems - quiet. Silent even. If Voldemort was the only thing alive in it, then this will be easy."

"But you know that can't be true."

"Yes, I know it. I have to go there. It must be neutralised."

"Hermione!" Severus bellows. "It'll kill you, don't so stupid!"

"Then it's a sacrifice I will make!" she shouts back at him. "It has to be done!"

"Do you even know how to get there?"

"Actually, yes, I do. I Apparate in. Remember how when we were being taught to Apparate, and we were warned that we should never think about a gap when we did, or it'd Splinch us so badly we'd die? A clever ruse, but the real reason is that the Gap is naturally Magical. Hence, we can Apparate in. I am going into that Gap. There is nothing more to be discussed."

"I'm not going to let you do that!" Harry and I shout at the same time. We exchange glances, but I continue. "Over my dead body."

"Jasper, it's this, or the universe ends. We have four days. And if the Gap is not to be feared again, then any sacrifice I can make will be worth it."

"Hermione -" Harry says, looking desperate but somehow resigned. "Will I be able to talk you out of this?" She shakes her head, sends him a sad smile. "Then for my sake, at least come back alive. You promise me."

"I swear."

"And if I'm never going to see you again, you'd better take this." He digs a moving picture out of his pocket. "It's Ginny's scan picture," he says, smiling faintly. "A baby girl. Don't forget us, Hermione."

"I promise."

"I know." She grabs my hand again, and turns back to the clearing.

As soon as we're through, she drops my hand and steps away.

"If I'm not back in a day, I've died, and I'm sorry," she says, her voice hard and cold. The crack of her Apparating snaps in my heart, and she's gone.


	10. Chapter 10

CPOV

He came back without her, screaming about how she'd gone. Left him standing in the woods, staring at the spot where she'd disappeared. She'd gone into the Gap, was ready to sacrifice herself to save the world. Edward had grabbed him by the shoulder, but had been shaken off. He hadn't budged from his bedroom window since.

"If I'm not back in a day, I've died and I'm sorry."

"Sorry, Edward?"

"That's what she said to him. Before she left him. He calls it "Apparating" in his head. Well, before she went off to save the world, she told him that. Now he's tearing himself apart. He's terrified she won't come back - and not just because of this human business. He loves her. He knows that she's his mate."

"Christ. He knew the moment he saw her in that clearing, didn't he?"

"Yes, but he's only now realising who she will be to him. And now she's gone off on this suicide mission."

"Edward, have you read from her mind what this Gap truly is?"

"It's hell, Carlisle. I think the people who wrote of it in the Revelations either saw it or knew about it. The descriptions of it match what I saw in her mind. If she walks out of there, she will have had to sacrifice something big. I don't know what -"

"But it'd be something huge, right?"

"Something life-changing."

Conversation ceases after that. All night, Jasper stares out of his bedroom window, never once moving, glaring at the clearing out of his sight. How will we know when she returns, I wonder? Will she walk back to the house? Will she be able to walk back? Will we be alerted somehow? Edward is listening out for her thoughts, but he can't hear her at the moment. Hermione is far beyond the reach of our powers, untouchable by anything we can do for her. She's fighting alone, and that frightens us all.

"There was a boy called Harry in the office she took me to." Jasper has finally left his post. Hermione has less than a hour left of the day she told Jasper she'd be back in. "When she took us back to the clearing we found her in, spoke to the woman in that office - she took me there. And there was a boy called Harry. He took her in his arms, and made her swear she'd come back alive. She made that promise, took a baby scan picture from him, and then left. And all I could do was watch. He didn't even try to stop her going." Time is rapidly running out. "Now she has thirty seven minutes to come back to me. And in my heart, Carlisle, I know that I am never going to see her again."

I said nothing to him. What could I say? I couldn't promise him that she would be OK, that she'd live and come back to him and make him human. I couldn't promise him that in thirty-seven minutes, he could hold her in his arms and tell her how he felt. Jasper is centuries away from being picked up and cuddled, reassured that everything will be fine. I share the lump of icy dread that tells me that we have seen the last of Hermione.

APOV

I have tried, again and again, to see something in the future that will tell me if Hermione will return. Jasper blurs still, remains human in my visions, but it doesn't mean Hermione lives. Perhaps he will cross the worlds like she did, go to that other place, ask them to change him back to being human and normal.

I feel the need to try and explain my feelings towards Hermione and Jasper's transformation. Carlisle and the others choose to believe that I am jealous of their closeness, that she can give him what I cannot. Jasper and I were never meant to be, but I love him all the same. I had gotten so used to having him around, having him as my brother without his attentions being anywhere else, I couldn't handle this new girl coming along and taking him from us with her bewitching prettiness and magic. I thought I would be glad when she went away, but it's tearing my brother apart. I cannot stand and watch him suffer so badly. I make my decision very quietly. I shield my thoughts from Edward, and slip away. I know that Jasper sees me, I make sure he does. But he doesn't try and follow me. He turns his back on me, and goes away from his window. If I lose him now, it will be only my fault. I pray that my actions now can save her for him, and earn his forgiveness.

EPOV

I notice, after perhaps ten minutes, that Alice has stopped reciting _The Pardoner's Tale_ in Gaelic in her head. I can't hear her at all. I search methodically first, then more frantically, casting my mind much wider. But there's nothing. No sound.

"Carlisle," I bellow, making for the stairs. "Alice is gone!" I search our room, search the house and grounds, but there's nothing. I follow her scent, Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett hot on my heels. She took a car, and all I can smell is burning rubber. She could have gone anywhere. "This is your fault!" I shout, rounding on Jasper.

"Me?"

"You, you and all this with Hermione!"

"Christ, Edward, don't be stupid."

"I know," I say, shoulders slumping. "I know."

HPOV

Burning. It looks like fire, but the flames aren't hot. Flames leap high, but nothing burns. And yet the whole world looks like ash. I can hear screams, screaming babies, toddlers and adults. Laughter, the kinds of laughs you hear on Muggle horror movies when it's meant to be the Devil, deranged and manic. It's kind of hard to focus on any one place. I swear I can see shadows leaping and dancing out of the corners of my eyes, but as soon as I look at them, they're dancing away out of sight. The first Wizarding Law springs to mind, and I close my eyes, trying to blot out all the moving monsters that are so common for children's nightmares. _A place of evil true, requires sacrifice due, sacrifice of goodness whole and tainted not. _Was I meant to bring a baby, slit it's throat on an altar? I can't see an altar, which relieves my mind quite a bit, as I can't say I would have been able to sacrifice a child, regardless of the cost. I can only start walking about, and seeing what I can find. I draw my wand, assume the position of ready to fight. I'm ready for Voldemort's, Devil's, big black clouds of evil. Anything. I might not have a game plan, but I can still be ready to defend. Keeping up a constant shield is a massive power drain, and I know that I'll need all my strength to fight it off, whatever it might turn out to be.

I've only been walking for a moment when there is definite movement straight ahead. The flames seem to be moving, separating to form a path. Am I meant to go down it? Is it a trap? I get ready, crouching into stance, ready to defend or attack. There's a figure down there, moving rapidly towards me.

"Show yourself! I'm armed!"

"Hermione Granger. The girl who saved the world."

"Identify!"

"Hermione Granger. The girl who saved the world."

"My name is Hermione Granger, yes. I was one of the people who helped save the Wizarding world."

"Hermione Granger. The girl who saved the world."

"Stop saying that! Tell me your name!"

"We have told you."

"We, who the hell is we? I warn you, I will attack."

"There are thousands of us. How will you attack us all."

"Come closer."

"No."

"Come closer."

"No."

"Then," I say, smiling, "we will play this my way. _Augmenti Majoris!" _A jet-stream of water flies out of my wand, and I turn in a circle, playing it onto the flames. I'm actually a little surprised it works, but the flames die, and now I can see that I am surrounded. "Show yourself, or so help me, I will destroy this world and everything in it." There is a hiss of rage, but finally movement. The black shadow ahead of me steps forward. My eyes widen, and I gasp.

Hideously distorted and disfigured, horribly burnt and charred, the figure is still recognisable. It's me. One thousand times over, it is me.

"We are Hermione Granger, the girl who saved the world."

"You can't be. I am Hermione. You are projections or distorted images, you are not Hermione Granger."

"We are you. You, the epitome of all that is good and Light in the world. Born without any sense of being evil, without even a smear upon your soul. A gift from the angels."

"Everyone can be evil."

"You cannot."

"I have killed. I have injured people, I have done evil things."

"We are those evil things. For every wrong you committed, seven of us were made."

"But you said there were thousands of you. How can there be thousands of you?"

"We needed to remain alive. The Gap is your Creation, Hermione Granger, the girl who saved the world.

"Are you saying that you bred?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"How was this created? You said it was my creation, but how could I have done this?"

"We are your nightmares. This is the nightmare of your childhood. Afraid of nothing but fire and fear. We are that nightmare, our world is your nightmare. You are very clever, Hermione Granger, the girl who saved the world. Logic saved you, and made us. You could ignore so much of what you did, and so your mind found a way to make that possible."

"Why give this information to me so easily? You must know what I am here to do."

"Of course. We are you."

"Wait," I say, suddenly. "Just wait a minute. The Gap has existed for centuries. It didn't just spring up. So how could I have created it, when I'm only eighteen? Explain that, if you're so clever."

"We are you. You are clever, and thus are we."

"So explain the problem."

"The Gap has been an idea for centuries. It has not always existed. The Wizard writers of old used it as a metaphor for the evil in the world. Your mind used that ancient idea to make it a reality."

"Do you know what caused the cracks?"

"We do not."

"Will destroying this place make them close?"

"Yes."

"Will destroying it simply create another, through an act of such evil?"

"No."

"Would you judge me?"

"No."

"Will you help me?"

"No."

"Can I stop the cracks coming back again? Forever?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"You have to die, Hermione Granger, the girl who saved the world. The sacrifice that must be made will be your own life. Give your life back to the angels who made it, the blessing and the curse. The Gap will close, the cracks will vanish, and you will be dead. You have to die."


	11. Chapter 11

HPOV

I don't know exactly how long I've been here. I think its been more than the day I gave Jasper, but I didn't bargain on having to wrestle with my conscience. Can I destroy thousands of life-forms, even if they are half-lives, and versions of me? They're watching me, I can feel my skin prickling. I have to choose, thousands of lives, or saving five worlds? I know what the obvious choice is, but I'm face to face with these life-forms. These people are alive too. There has to be a way to do this without killing anybody. And preferably without killing myself into the bargain. I have to try.

"_Augmenti Majoris!" _I cast the spell again and again, extinguishing the flames as much as I can. When the flames are extinguished, I can see the edges of the universe. The Gap is much smaller than I originally thought. You can see the worlds ringed around the edges, and all around me are black shapes and screams, and a shape coming towards me again. "I think I have a way to do this without killing you. I can heal you, and then take you to the world I came from. They will take care of you. They can make you new appearances, you can live your lives. How many of you are there exactly, do you know?"

"One thousand. We cannot be moved, there are too many of us."

"It's not impossible. It can be done, but you have to trust me. I can save you."

"Why would you do this?"

"You're people. Nobody has to die here today, or any other day. I have been responsible for enough evil in the world, and I won't cause more by destroying you. You can pick a world, any world. I will help you, if you chose not to go to the world I came from." The shadows exchange glances. "I must ask a favour, however."

"What is the favour?"

"One of you - just one - must take a message for me. To Harry Potter. I need you to tell him that I did everything I could. If my plan works, the tears in the universe will be repaired, and they will be closed forever."

"I will take the message."

"Then you have my thanks."

So I Heal them, and see them into their various worlds. I change their appearances where I need to, and let them loose. The temptation to step into the worlds myself is almost overwhelming, but I cannot bargain on being able to get back. And I must get back - I promised Harry I would be alright, and I owe Jasper a debt. I can only hope I'm back by Friday. It was Wednesday when I left. I have no way of knowing how long I have been away, and I know that I will not be able to make the Potion for him on this full moon. I have no way to know if I'll survive to make it.

I know that I have to neutralise the Gap to close it. The people told me that I would have to die. Perhaps, however, I shall not need to sacrifice my life. But I must become the people who were once here. I must take those evil deeds myself, and finally accept responsibility for my actions. I need to acknowledge what I did and what I have done here. The War must be accepted. One little fire still burns. It's no bigger than the average fireplace fire, but I know it's different from the rest. Where they did not burn, were not hot, I can feel the flames from this one as soon as I step up to it. Somebody said that fire was cleansing. That burning things was the only fail-safe was to be rid of them forever. Can't remember who it is right now. It doesn't matter. If the Gap closes, it will stop pushing out between the worlds, into them, and the tears will repair themselves. It will only take a day. I have time. For the first time, I have time that I would rather not have. During that year with Harry and Ron, all we wanted was time. When the final battle came, we wanted more time to be ready. And after the War, we needed time to come to terms with everything that happened. And now here, in this tiny world, with this tiny fire, I have time I neither need nor want.

"Oh, Jasper," I whisper. "I wish there was another way to do this."

I close my eyes, step forwards. I open my mind, and then focus everything I have on Jasper. I feel the Apparation begin, but I also feel the fire take hold of me. The scream starts in my stomach, tearing its way out as I open my eyes and see the walls of the worlds rushing inwards.

APOV

I saw this place in my vision, and I am waiting. I don't know what will be here, but I know it's where I need to be. Suddenly, a loud bang echoes around me, and then there's a vicious and final jolt. It sends me to my knees, and leaves me unable to stand. There's a ringing in my ears that deafens me, and then I'm thrown backwards. The vision is poured into my head like liquid running into a glass, filling me to the brim.

_I'm in a dark cell, with only one small window. I'm frightened, alone, and very, very cold. They cut off my hair. When I touch my head now, I can feel a rough cut, spiky and short, where there were waist length smooth curls just hours ago. They cut my hair. I wonder why they did that. My parents brought me here. They are afraid of me - my own parents. I should never have told them about my visions. I didn't ask for them. I didn't ask to be able to see into the future and all. It's just there. I wish it were different. But I shouldn't have ever told them. _

_It's scary here. There are so many people shouting out. Mad people live here, this is an asylum. A place for people who are crazy, or dangerous, or both. I'm not crazy, and I'm not dangerous either. It's just these visions. _

_They come for me the next day. Men in white, scary men, men I don't recognise. They yank me up and out, and I kick out desperately. These men are going to hurt me. _

I rock back onto all fours, breath I don't need coming in gasps. I remember, I remember that asylum, my parents dumping me there. Biloxi, the town where I grew up. The visions that put me in there. My God, my God, why would my own parents do it? But deep down, I know they did it because they were trying to help me, trying to heal me. They were frightened, they couldn't understand, so they did only what they could.

The smell hits me a moment later. Burnt hair, burnt flesh. And a dreadful rattle, the sound of somebody drawing their dying breaths. I scramble to my feet, and stare ahead. There is a smouldering, smoking, charred body lying before me, incredibly still alive. Suddenly, I realise who it is.

"Hermione?" I cry, rushing over to her, taking her into my arms. She groans.

"Alice," she croaks. "Alice."

"Hermione, hold on. Please hold on. I'm going to get you back."

HPOV

There is horrible pain everywhere. My world has been painted red. Red is pain, terrible pain. The Cruciatus Curse was a peaceful stroll compared to this, a tickle with a little feather. I didn't know pain before this. I can only hope that the instructions I wrote survived. I can feel the paper in my fist. It was all I could do to stop myself unclenching, to fling my hands up to protect my face. I tried. I hope I did enough. When I can control the agony a little, I can think. And suddenly, each person I killed or tortured or injured is haunting me, screaming in my head. But I must deal with it, I must not file it all away again. I have to deal with it this time. Get a therapist maybe. Although I don't know how I'd explain it. I'm aware of Alice suddenly. I wanted to get to Jasper. Alice can take you to Jasper, my brain points out.

"Hermione?" I must look bad, she sounds horrified. She picks me up. It hurts so much, but at the same time, her coldness soothes me a little. I make a noise in the back of my throat, summon enough spit from somewhere to talk.

"Alice," I grate out, the syllable feeling like a knife forcing itself up through my throat. "Alice."

"Hermione, hold on. Please hold on. I'm going to get you back." She lifts me off the ground, and the movement is fire. I groan. "I'm sorry, Hermione, I'm sorry." There's a sob in her voice, and I feel myself being placed down again. This time, cool material is felt. I have enough coherency to know that the fact that I can tell what I'm lying on means I don't have major nerve damage. It's a little soothing. "I'm going to take you to Carlisle. He'll know what to do, he'll be able to help. You need to hold on." It must be bad. Really bad. I need to be conscious long enough to give Carlisle the instructions. I hope we aren't far from the house.

EPOV

I'm suddenly aware of Alice again. And she is screaming, screaming ym name in fear and panic. She screeches into the drive, and I rush out to her. She gets out of the car, opens the back door, and turns to me with the most horrific sight. Hermione, or what's left of her, is cradled gently in her arms. It's just black charred flesh. Where she isn't black, she's bright, painful red.

"Carlisle!" Alice screams, her voice high with fear. "Carlisle, help me!" He comes rushing out, followed closely by Jasper.

"Hermione," he whispers, agony throwing off him in waves. I don't know if it's what he's feeling, or what she feels, but it makes me double up.

"Alice, talk to me," I say, as Carlisle takes Hermione, who inhales a rattling breath.

"I had a vision of a place, and I knew I had to be there. So I went, and I waited. Then there was this bang, and a jolt -"

"We felt that."

"Then another vision. Except this one was different, it wasn't of the future it was of the past. My past. I know what happened - oh, it doesn't matter now! Then I looked up, and Hermione was there, and it was so _horrible, _Edward, she's all burnt. She's in such pain, it's so obvious. Nobody can live through that, Edward, nobody, never mind magic and other stuff."

CPOV

Hermione groans when I put her down on the medical bed. I didn't realise she was conscious.

"Take these, Carlisle." She uncurls her fist, revealing an undamaged bit of paper. Her palm is smooth and undamaged.

"What?"

"They're instructions. Everything…in my bag….take it." She finally loses consciousness.

"Jasper, I need to keep her breathing. There's an oxygen cylinder, a bag and mask in that cupboard, get them out, get it hooked up, and get the mask over her face. You'll have to breathe for her, press the bag down." I tip her rucksack out over the desk. An incredible amount of stuff comes out, far more than should have fitted. I look at her list.

_Essence of Dittany (brown bottle) - to be administered orally. Three drops mixed with half a pint of water. After the first dose, one drop per half-pint per hour. Four hours needed._

_After the four hours, inject me with one bottle of Blood-Replenisher (blue bottles). _

_Immediately after, I need to drink the contents of the red bottle. Do whatever you have to do to make me, but it MUST be drunk, not injected or given intravenously. _

_Leave me for three days._

At least she's concise and clear. At least her handwriting is legible and clear.

"Jasper, go and get me water. Half a pint, go, go now!" He's back with it in less than a second, his face taunt and drawn. "You need to go. You're no good here. Send me Rosalie and Emmett. Now, Jasper!" He goes, but not without looking mutinous. Rose and Emmett come in. I need them because they had the least to do with Hermione, and I can trust them to be a little cooler and calmer. "Hold her you two. I get the feeling that this is going to be unimaginably painful for her."

RPOV

If I thought Emmett looked bad when I found him, Hermione looks worse. The four and a half hours we are in that room are hell on earth. I've never held down a living, charred corpse that left me covered in black pus while it writhed and shrieked. I don't think she can open her eyes, they look burnt shut. I've never tried to raise a vein that's invisible among black and red meat, meat that's so cooked, it's falling off in places. If it were possible for vampires to vomit, I think I would have done it by now. Several times. I retch a couple of times, and Emmett looks sicker than I feel. Carlisle injects the Potion, and that seems to hurt her too. By now, however, she's all shrieked out. I'd rather hear her screams again, I'd rather listen to that than the pitiful, heart-wrenching moans she's making. I sit her up, but she's completely unable to support herself, her head lolling on her neck.

"Rose, sit behind her, hold her head in your hands," Carlisle instructs.

"I can't, Carlisle. I can't."

"Emmett, you do it. Quickly, come on." He does so, and I'm so ashamed. But I can't. I'm already splattered from waist to neck with that horrific black mess. It smells so strongly, permeating the entire house. Emmett holds her head slightly back, and Carlisle pours some of the contents of yet another bloody bottle into her mouth. She moans, coughs a little. "Hermione, you have to drink this. Please, Hermione, come on." She does so, dragging it down in strong, sucking gulps. Emmett puts her down gently, handling her like a baby. "We have to leave her. It's done."

I take a shower, scrubbing myself with a nail brush. I can still smell it, the stench of Hermione, burnt and deformed. Even if we have managed to save her, what life are we bringing her back to? She'll be horribly deformed, scarred beyond imagining. The fingers on her right hand were completely burnt away. Her hair, all those beautiful wild curls, were just gone. She couldn't open her eyes. She might not be able to see. Emmett comes in, jumps into the shower with me, ignoring the fact that he's fully dressed.

"Edward could hear your internal monologue. He sent me to make sure you weren't going to combust."

"I can't get it out of my head," I whisper, cuddling into him. He wraps his arms around me more securely. He lifts me down, out of the shower, wraps me securely in a couple of towels. He switches off the shower, carries me into our room. He holds me close, strokes my hair.

"It will be OK, Rose. She knew what she was doing, yeah? She wrote all those instructions. She knew that she'd need helping, so she prepared for it. She knew what she was doing with it all. So there must be a solution."

"You have that much faith in her?"

"She knew so much about me, stuff I didn't even know about me. I don't know about all this Time stuff yet. But she knows about it, and I want to find it out. I mean, I think if it was really important, like if it would affect something, she'd've said something. Maybe it's just a place in history sort of thing. But I know that she was ready for it, so she must have a way to help herself."

"I wish I could believe like you."

"I promise it'll be alright. And when have I ever broken a promise to you?"

"Last week. You said you'd fix that drawer and you haven't yet."

"I'll do it right now. What's in there, anyway?"

"You'll see when you fix it."


	12. Chapter 12

JPOV

Carlisle takes three days off from the hospital, and spends all three inside that room with Hermione. It smells like chemicals and burning. I can't imagine her surviving. She was so hurt. Poor Alice was borderline hysterical when she finally finished telling Edward what had happened. He and Esme took her off to the cottage to calm her down and get her focussed on some other project. I asked, not because I was particularly interested, but because I got the impression Esme wanted me to ask.

"What project?"

"We're going to get the cottage cleaned up. Ready for you and Hermione."

"Hermione? What makes you think she's going to make it?"

"Because Carlisle is with her, Jasper." She sounded so assured. I so wished I could believe her. They went off after that, and I went and sat outside the door. And for three days, I sat there.

Rosalie and Emmett are sitting with me now, Rose's head resting on my shoulder. She hasn't told me what she saw or did in that room, but I could smell something foul on her afterwards, feel the horror and torment she was experiencing. Finally, Carlisle opens the door. The three of us scramble up, and I try and see round him. He looks like he's seen a ghost.

"Jasper, you can go in. Be gentle with her, she's still in quite a lot of pain. I've given her some morphine, but there's a limit on how much I can administer."

"Yeah, sure."

She's bandaged up more or less everywhere. I can see her face, just about, but everything else is special burns dressings, and white bandages. I'm relieved to see that he eyes seem OK - at least they're open now, and not the milky-white of blindness that I was afraid I'd see.

"Jasper, is it you there?"

"Can't you see properly?"

"Not yet, but Carlisle thinks that they'll get better."

"what's up with your voice?"

"Smoke inhalation. I'd rather not talk about that right now. Please come closer, Jasper. I can't see you."

"Shall I sit here, on your bed."

"Yes, but be gentle with me. Don't touch me."

"Are you really hurting?"

"Yes," she says simply. I've endured torture before this, Jasper, but I've never been in such pain."

"Did it at least work?" She smiles at me.

"It worked. You must go to the clearing again for me today, and be absolutely sure that you can no longer see anything at all that shouldn't be there. You're looking for either the picture of the office, or a small crack in the air. I mean, I'd go myself, but Carlisle threatened to tie me down if I tired to move, everything hurts, and I just cannot see well enough to spot the little fissures."

"Still annoyingly practical then."

"Naturally. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"I missed the full moon. I'm sorry."

"It's Monday now. You were gone for two and a half days. I thought you'd died." She squints up at me.

"Now, really, Jasper. Once you get to know me a little better, you will learn that I have never once broken a promise."

Carlisle chased me out after that, insisting that Hermione needed rest. I take a little comfort in remembering that he face had been as badly burnt as the rest of her, and now looks much, much better. Her beautiful honey-coloured eyes are just the same as ever. Except she can't see me. I don't care, I realise pretty quickly. She's alive, and she's sort of OK. She's talking and breathing, and that is something I can be happy with. I'm just relieved she came back more or less in one piece.

APOV

We finish up with the cottage in a couple of days, at least all the major restorations. Hermione and Jasper are both conservative types, and we kept the cottage a cottage, despite Emmett wanting to add all sorts of fancy touches, an extra couple of floors, but Esme and I had our way on it. He and Edward are making shelves and Jasper has volunteered to do something fancy with the mantelpiece. He's been wood-carving since before he got immortal, and he is amazing at it. He's working right now, using the existing wood, the pure English oak. It matches the colour of Hermione's hair - or the colour it used to be.

"Esme, I'll be back in a bit, alright? I got some fabrics we could use as curtains and cushion covers, I'm going to grab them." I lit out before she could respond, and then I'm knocking softly on the door of Carlisle's medical room. He answers, and looks vaguely surprised to see me.

"Alice, what's wrong?"

"I wanted to see Hermione. If she's awake and stuff."

"She's awake. But like I told Jasper early, she's got a lot of morphine in her, but she's still in a lot of pain, so try not to touch her."

"OK."

"Five minutes, alright?"

"Yeah, sure."

I slip round the door, scared of what I'll see. She's all bandages.

"I can't see you, whoever that is. Come on over, I don't bite."

"It's me, Alice."

"Can I help? Come on over, sit down here." She doesn't move much, but I'm guessing it's because she can't really yet without it hurting her.

"I had to come. I had to come and say that I am so sorry. No, Hermione, don't interrupt me. I have to explain. You frightened me, you scared me so much. You came out of nowhere, literally from another world, and I didn't understand you for even a second, and that scared me. It scared me that I couldn't see you, I couldn't see what you'd be to my family. And then you could give Jasper what he really, really wanted, and he was suddenly - suddenly, it was like all he could see was you. And that seriously, seriously pissed me off, and I'm so ashamed that it did. You've had a really lousy first impression of me, Hermione, and I needed to say that I am sorry."

"Alice, it's OK. I know what I was - or what I seemed like to you. I just exploded in, talking about the end of the world and rips in Time and different universes, and then me and Jasper got closer and I know that to you, I was just barging in acting like I knew what was best for everyone. I know why you reacted the way you did, and I understand."

"He better value you highly, Hermione, because you really are something."

"Why?"

"You know full well who I mean. Jasper. My brother loves you. And maybe I have no right to say this to you, but you need to know why he can love you so fast and so much. Vampire's mate for life, like swans. Once we find that one person, we're with them forever, no matter how many thousands of years. Even if one mate dies, that's it for the other. We are all - except Jasper - mated. Edward and I, Rosalie and Emmett and Carlisle and Esme. Jasper's been alone now for a hundred and sixty seven years, and that's far, far too long. Now, I can understand that for you it's different. You're not a vampire, you won't form that intense bond. But I know, deep down, that you will one day be my brother's entire world, and he yours. Hermione, take what time you need, but I am begging you not to hurt him."

"I wouldn't, Alice, you have my word on it. I can't promise I'll fall in love with him - but when he becomes human, I will stay with him, for as long as he needs me, and for as long as it takes for us to work it all out."

HPOV

Over time, the pain decreases by infinitesimal amounts. At first, the decrease is tiny I don't even notice it. And then there was the hell of the Dittany burning through my system, the pins and needles of Blood-Replenisher flying through veins that were barely there any longer, and finally that bloody Skele-Gro stuff. We need to start developing healing Potions that don't cause horrific pain. The three days were excruciating. I read a book once about a boy burned when he called down the lightening in a war, who was put in a cave to be healed. That book said nothing about pain when the Healing actually began, just unconsciousness. I should have had words with the author. I've felt every second. I felt it when Carlisle put dressings on me when he'd administered to Potions, which soothed for a while. I assumed he'd know about dressings and so forth, and luckily he knew to put them on anyway.

And then, finally, came a moment when I realised I wasn't in as much pain. I could move the fingers of my right hand and not feel like it was going to give me heart failure. I could open my eyes a little, but everything was blurred and indistinct, and the light hurts, so I close them again, content to rest. And then, pain recedes to a level that leaves me able to think about something else for any length of time, and able to open my eyes and endure the light on them. I'm aware of somebody moving about, but as soon as I twitch, they're bending over me. It's Carlisle, I can see him if I squint.

"Hermione?"

"How long?"

"Three days. I dressed you correctly - but if it was wrong, we can remove the dressings."

"It was right. Can you see any skin?"

"On your face."

"How's it looking?"

"A damn sight better than you looked three days ago. The burns seem to be healing. But, it's impossible."

"You've known me two weeks now, Carlisle, you know me better than that."

"Indeed. But this is something else, Hermione. I mean, you were cooked, quite literally, there was flesh falling off you. You were burnt black and what wasn't black was red. You weren't able to breathe for yourself, you weren't able to move without screaming in agony, and now your face is more or less back to normal."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm still in serious pain and I can't see properly."

"Not really. But I can do something about both those things. I'll sort you some painkillers, but let me see your eyes first." He shines a light, examines my eyes with an instrument. "They don't seem to be too bad. I think they'll heal up on their own, but it might mean glasses for at least a little while. At least you'd suit them. And you're also bald, by the way. What was left of your hair fell out when we dressed your wounds."

"Ah well, then the entire world is coming to an end. Get the drugs coming, Doc, it hurts something awful."

Jasper comes, and then Alice. When she leaves, she leaves me quite a bit to think about. When Carlisle comes back in to conduct his routine examinations, I seize the chance to question him.

"Carlisle, when you first met Esme, did you know that she was the one you wanted to be with forever?"

"Yes, I did. Although we met under slightly unconventional circumstances, I knew that she was the one that I had been looking for, for the better part of two centuries. So I changed her, and she returned my feelings. We've been together now for just under one hundred years, and every time I see her, it's still like that first time again."

"She was human, when you met her?"

"Yes. Human, and dying. The people I changed - Edward, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett - were all very close to death, with no chance of recovery. I knew that Esme was the person who was absolutely destined for me, the one I had been waiting for. I knew that I would never again meet anybody else, that she was my only one, my true mate, and so I changed her, and we've had many happy years together, and I still love her, and I always will. Why do you ask?"

"Alice said that I was Jasper's mate."

"Indeed you are, although I did hope that Jasper would be the one to tell you that. However, I'm sure Alice has her reasons."

"What will that mean - you know, when I change him?"

"I don't know, but I would assume that it would be carried into his human life. He'll have the easier end of the stick - he'll be certain about how he feels."

"I can see myself falling in love with him, Carlisle. I mean, Merlin knows, I'm attracted to him, to his mind and his personality, and he's handsome with it. I do believe that I could be happy with him."

"Good. I didn't change Jasper, Hermione, and his past is definitely his story to tell you, but he's my son all the same and I will love him, from now until the day he dies. All I regret is that isn't me who can really, truly give him happiness. Give him that, Hermione. You have a place in this family now, whether you end up with him or not. Just do what you can."

"That's only ever been my intention. To fix up the worlds, and make some people happy."

"You're wonderful, Hermione. You truly are. Now, do you want some more morphine, or would you rather I just knocked you out for a few hours?"


	13. Chapter 13

JPOV

"Hermione's recovery will be slow, but I hope it will be a full one. Her progress so far has been unbelievable - the only thing worrying me is her eyesight, which so far shows no improvement. However, if all she carries away from this is a pair of spectacles, none of us have any right to complain. Her actions saved the world, and she can be proud knowing that." Carlisle is quiet for a moment, before drawing a sheet of expensive looking paper from his pocket. "However, we have another problem. I received this missive from the Volturi. Apparently, the jolt we all felt was felt world-wide. We already know that human scientists are completely baffled, but as no adverse effects have yet been felt, it's falling of the map. Other things are becoming news. Aro, while he may fail at many other stances, is not an idiot. He's worked out that something Hermione has done caused that jolt, and he wants to know that she has done what she came to do. However, he also wants Hermione out of this world. He is coming here, and nothing we can do will stop him. He wants Hermione gone, and I'm not prepared to let him."

"There's no way we can send her back. Not without ripping apart the skin of the universe," I say. "And even if there was, I will tear the Volturi apart with my bare hands and entirely on my own to stop them. I know, the world knows, that my name will carry weight forever, so God help Aro if he tries to touch her, because I will kill him, regardless of what that will do to the world order. So you write to that smug, pretentious bastard, and you tell him that he goes through me before he gets even close to her." I have to leave after that, because I know I'm dangerously close to losing my temper. And besides, I always go and visit Hermione at this time, and she'll be expecting me.

"Come in Jasper, don't lurk in the door."

"How are you today?"

"I'm in less pain."

"Is that because Carlisle drugged you up, or did you wake up in less pain?"

"I woke up in less pain. He did drug me though, and he has some good drugs."

"Can you see me better?"

"Not really. I know you're there, and I can tell it's you."

"Has it improved that much?"

"No, but I can smell you. You smell like fresh grass after it's rained, and peppermint. You all smell different. Alice smells like soap and lilacs, Carlisle smells of the hospital in a good way. Esme smells like washing powder and toast, Emmett smells like sawdust and motor oil, and Rose smells like oil and perfume. Simple."

"That's a very cool bit you got going on there. Anything I can do for you?"

"I'd appreciate a drink, thanks."

"You're good to have anything in this fridge, right? Well, then there's lemonade or juice."

"Lemonade, please." I hold the straw for her so she can sip at it, but she raises her arms feebly, and manages to hold it herself.

"Look who's showing off their mobility," I say, laughing. She giggles.

"I should be out of bed soon. Then I can finish up with the Healing spells." She puts her crochet to the side, and looks at me. "So, why are you really here?"

"We've had a letter. From the Volturi. And you're all over the papers. Well, not you personally, more what you did. Don't know if you noticed anything, but there was this jolt, after you - after you did what you did -"

"After I jumped into a fire and burnt myself alive, yes, yes, continue."

"Yes, that. The whole world felt the jolt, literally the entire world. And you shunted us a fraction of a degree further from the sun, initiating a one degree average temperature drop. They don't think it'll impact too much on the environment too much though. But you've got scientists absolutely baffled."

"The world will realign itself in a year or two. Nobody will even notice, I expect. Who was the letter from?"

"Aro."

"Which one was he, the depressive, the psycho or the stuck-up pretentious moron?"

"The stuck up pretentious moron. He's coming here - and he'll bring the other elders with him and probably some of the guard."

"Well, won't that be fun. What does he want while he's here?"

"He wants to check that you accomplished your task, and he wants you out of this world. He wants to send you back to your own world."

"Then we will be telling him that that is impossible, and if he doesn't like that, then I shall be forced to enforce the point."

"I'll join you."

"Jasper, why are people scared of you?"

"What makes you think people are scared of me."

"Lots of things. You get this look on your face sometimes, this fire in your eyes. And on the plane to Italy - when you told me about Maria. People can't do what you and I have done without being feared."

"That's why people are afraid of me. I was the most feared soldier in the Vampire Wars. People spoke - and often still do - my name with a fear. I was the ultimate threat. There's actually a very famous civil war legend in Texas about me. They got it pretty accurate - they call me the man who the undead fear to speak of. And as the undead are generally seen as fearless, its pretty much the scariest ghost story going." She laughs at me, so I decide to go on with it. "Apparently if you stand in front of a mirror on a night with a full moon, and say a rhyme, I'll appear and rip your throat out."

"In my world, there is a similar story. About a woman named Bloody Mary - once queen, she burned 300 people at the stake for being the wrong religion. If you chant her name in front of a mirror three times, she appears and gouges out your eyes."

"Does it work?"

"It does not. I tried it a couple of times with friends at sleepovers, and it never worked. Although the second time, we did it in the bathroom, and her brother dragged his nails down the bathroom door when we'd done the chant. We freaked out so badly, one girl actually wet herself with fear. Does yours work?"

"It doesn't, to the extent of my knowledge. Although, once, I did appear for a second behind a group of boys doing it for a laugh. They saw me reflected, but when they turned around, I'd gone. They screamed so loud."

"That's wicked," she protests, laughing.

"I felt obliged to knock them down a peg or two. They all claimed they weren't scared of anything. I think one of them's in therapy now." She shakes her head at me.

"When's the next full moon, you naughty boy?"

"Three weeks today."

"Ah, good. Plenty of time to recover and get working."

"On what?"

"Your Potion, if that's what you still want."

"Hermione, that's not important. What's important is getting you recovered - fully recovered. I've waited over a century - I can wait another few months."


	14. Chapter 14

JPOV

Aro is coming tomorrow, and Hermione is barely even well enough to sit up in a wheelchair for more than an hour. He'll see her how she is, and then he'll go through me the second he even tries to touch her. At least she's downstairs now, at least for an hour each lunchtime. Carlisle doesn't want her to over-do it, so she's allowed to feed herself but not allowed to do anything else for herself. Alice and Hermione are really starting to bond as a result, as Hermione relies on Alice, Esme and Rosalie to dress her, take her to the toilet, change her dressings and get her in and out of bed. She doesn't like to bother Carlisle after he's done a full day at the hospital, so the girls help her out. She's still very raw and pink-skinned, and doesn't have any hair yet, and she still complains of pain if she stays in the same position for very long. The remedy's she had ready to Heal her seem to have taken care of the major damage and the internal stuff, but she makes it very clear that most of her healing needs to be as natural as possible. I can hear Esme fussing around Hermione now, getting her dressed and making light conversation.

"How are you feeling? Any pain anywhere?"

"No, the morphine's working. What have you been doing today?"

"Well, we've been working on your get well present, and I've been working on a colour scheme for somebody's library."

"I've always wanted a library," Hermione sighs. I exchange glances with Alice and she nods happily.

"We can build a little annexe onto the back of the house. Don't worry, it'll look exactly like part of the original buildings. You two can have a nice little library, with an open fireplace, central heating tastefully hidden, and then we can put a shared study back there too."

"In a separate room?"

"Of course. We can link it through the kitchen." I smile at her and go back to casually eavesdropping on the conversation.

"So, what do you want for lunch? There's ham, cheese, sausages if you'd like, you could have a cheese toastie?"

"Cheese toastie, please."

"Jasper, can you make Hermione a cheese toastie?" Esme calls down.

"Sure thing."

She carries Hermione down carefully about five minutes later, and I put the toastie into the machine. I get her a drink and tuck her blanket around her a little more.

"Comfortable?" I ask. Alice and Esme have gone off to discuss Hermione's library, so I'm looking after her. Emmett is lounging on the sofa watching some football game, and Rosalie is working on her latest university thesis, this time in Ancient and Medieval British History.

"Emmett, turn that down, honey, I'm trying to argue why the Tudor reign was the best in English history."

"Sorry babe. Hermione, this game isn't going anywhere, you got anything you want to watch?"

"What's on?"

"I don't know." He starts scrolling through channels, but there's nothing on that really appeals to any of us.

"Ah, just turn it off, Emmett."

"Fair enough. I'll go for a hunt. Rose, do you want to come to?"

"May as well, it's been a few days and I've got a couple of full days at college coming up. Jasper, what about you?"

"I'll go tonight when Carlisle goes. Hermione, do you need another drink or anything?"

"No, thank you, I'm fine for now. We need to talk about tomorrow, however."

"Don't worry about that now." She looks at me sternly.

"We need to worry about that now. He's coming tomorrow, and I need to explain as effectively as possible. I need to be able to stand - or at the very least, I need full range to use my wand."

"Can't it be done sitting?"

"I've actually never tried. Normally most of my attack spells mean I move around a lot. I guess it could be done sitting. I mean, none of the books actually say it's necessary. I think we all just got used to showboating. I'll have to practice. Do be a dear and go and fetch my wand."

"I thought you never let go of it."

"And where the hell am I meant to be keeping it. My clothing is bandages and blankets."

"Fair point. Alright, give me a second. Oh, and here is your toastie, just the way you like it."

"Thanks." I come back with her wand before she's finished the first bite, and put it beside her so it's ready when she's finished with her lunch.

"That smells funny."

"I'll introduce you to the wonders of it when you're human."

"Alright." She takes up her wand and sighs.

"I've missed you," she murmurs to it, then blushes when she realises I would have heard that. "A witch's wand is a part of her. It's not an instrument, it's another limb. The wand chooses you, not the other way around."

"I see."

"Shut up. Now, would you mind terribly if I practiced on you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I won't do anything dangerous," she says, laughing. "Stunning Spells, which you've had done to you before and Immobilization, that's all I want to do."

"Fine, but only because I trust you."

"Thank you. Now, I'll just ward the windows. Don't want you to go through them again. There. Now, are you ready?"

"Do I have to do anything?"

"No, just stand there and look pretty." She takes very careful aim. "We'll start with a Stunning Spell, alright? Let me know at any point if you're uncomfortable with this."

"Just do it."

"_Stupefy!_" I don't remember anything else after that until she revives me. I get back up immediately.

"It's such a weird sensation."

"I know, I've been Stunned a fair few times myself. It's more the fact that you don't remember anything than the actual act itself."

"I know. OK, we know you can do that one sitting down. What was the other one you want to try?"

"Immobilization spell. You'll be able to think, and you'll be conscious, you just won't be able to move."

"Understood."

"_Prefiticus Totalus!" _I can still think, I find, from my position on the floor, but no matter how much a try, I just can't move a millimetre. It's just as disorientating as the Stunner, but in a different way. I can even hear her giggling. And then - horror of horrors - I hear Edward and Emmett come in.

"Hermione, what have you done to Jasper?"

"Immobilised him. I needed somebody to practice on, he very kindly agreed. He can still think, and he knows what's going on, so I wouldn't advise winding him up too much." She lets me out, and I get back up again.

"Could you do that one without pain?"

"Oh yes, it was fine. The rest of them I'm pretty confident about. Now, do you want to see something clever?"

"Go on then."

"Can we make this room darker? It'll look prettier in the dark."

"We can." Edward lowers the shutters and it's instantly dark.

"Why are we all sitting here in the dark?" Alice asks, from the door.

"Hermione's going to show us something clever and pretty," I say.

"Stand well back, you people. Now. _Expecto Patronum."_ A beautiful silver eagle erupts from her wand, and takes flight. It looks so real, so solid, apart from the unearthly glow coming from it's wings. "Don't touch it, Emmett, I can see you itching to do so. It'll vanish, and you'll ruin people's fun."

"Hermione, what is that?" Carlisle says, coming in from work.

"It's called a Patronus. The form they take is different for everyone - of course, some other people will have an eagle Patronus, but what I mean is they're unique to the person casting it. Harry's was a stag, Ron's was a Jack Russell terrier and Ginny's is a horse."

"Do you get to pick?"

"No, like wands, the Patronus chooses the wizard. They can't change, either, except in exceptional circumstances."

"Like what?"

"If you fall in love, the Patronus can change."

"Cute. What's it for?"

"Defence, as the first and primary use, but it won't work in this situation. Wrong creatures, but I'm not talking about those. And there's another use. They can be used to communicate messages." She drops her wand, and the eagle fades away.

"Hermione, why is yours an eagle? Your animagus form is one, this Patronus is one, but you say you're scared of flying."

"I am. I can't explain these, I figure it's just because it's a powerful, independent animal."

"Right, well, back to bed you go, miss," Carlisle orders, gently. "Alice, what time tomorrow?"

"Midday."

"Then, Hermione, it'll mean an early-ish beginning tomorrow, to change your dressings and see how you're doing under there."

"I should be back to normal by the end of the month."

"You never fail to amaze me." Alice gets up from the sofa and wraps Hermione in her blanket.

"You're comfortable? I'm going to lift you up."

"I'm ready." But before Alice can lift her, I step forward.

"Hermione, can I carry you today?"

"If you want," she says, sounding amused. I carry her slowly upstairs, and hear Edward hustle everyone out the house. Subtle. Hermione hears them too, and giggles softly.

"You wanted me to yourself."

"Who wouldn't? I just wanted to spend some time, just us, you know."

"I know. Before Aro."

"Before Aro." I put her gently into bed, and then lie down beside her, taking her very gently in my arms, being careful not to hurt her. "I'm not going to let him go anywhere near you, Hermione."

"I have no plans to do so either. But I only have one thing to ask you."

"Anything," I say promptly. She laughs.

"Never promise the word 'anything.' I can take that into a million areas. None of them are good, all result in humiliation. But seriously. You can't let Aro touch you tomorrow."

"Why?"

"He can't know about the Potion. Nobody can. We'd never get any peace and quiet, we'd never be alone, there would always be people looking for us. I don't want that in our lives."

"In our lives?"

"Jasper, I don't understand myself, so for God's sake, don't ask me to explain it - but I think I'm falling for you." I smile at her, and she smiles back. And she's suddenly the most beautiful she's ever been. So, because I can't think of anything else to do, I lean over her and kiss her smile. And I would have left it there, but she's somehow managed to lift her arms all the way up, tangle her hands in my hair, and is actually being pretty forceful with me. So we both get a little carried away, and suddenly my shirt has been ripped off.

"OK, you're meant to be in recovery."

"Sorry," she says, blushing a bit. "It's been building for a while."

"Well, that's nice. Didn't any of that cause you pain?"

"Not really. Didn't notice if it did. You're a very good painkiller."

"Thank you."

"What shall we do now?"

"Nothing. Just stay with me until I fall asleep. Which Carlisle will ensure I have done when she get back." She falls asleep pretty soon, and I just watch her for a little while. She looks peaceful, and I run my hand very gently over her head, feeling the soft downy fuzz that's growing on her head. I felt a baby's head once - once when I was still human, my sister's son. He was so soft and so warm, and so trusting. Her hair reminds me of that moment, and now, I close my own eyes, and let myself imagine what it would be like to hold my own babies.


	15. Chapter 15

The next thing I know, Hermione is in her chair beside me, smiling at me rather mischievously.

"What the hell just happened?"

"You were sleeping."

"I was what?"

"OK. I'll understand if you get mad, but I'm getting so attuned to your thoughts, I knew you were imagining babies, so I thought you might appreciate you having a little human experience."

"You cast a spell so I could sleep?"

"Yes. Did you - I don't know, did you like it?"

"I had such a lovely dream. It was so peaceful, not hearing my mind running on and on. Not feeling everybody else. It was so quiet."

"So, you aren't mad?"

"No. I enjoyed it. I could so easily get used to it."

"Do the others know?"

"Yes. Emmett wants a go. His words, not mine."

"Will you let him?"

"Can't see the harm. But Carlisle told me you need to get ready, it's eleven o clock, and Aro will be here soon. So I came in to wake you up, but couldn't bring myself to, but you woke up naturally, so there wasn't an issue."

"How long were you there?"

"About two minutes, honestly. I was gearing up to waking you. You looked so peaceful. I've never seen you look so peaceful."

HPOV

We're waiting in the garden at five minutes to midday. Jasper stands beside me, having already made several attempts to stand in front of me. I threaten to hurt him, and he finally moves, but only to my side. I accept that as about as good as it'll get, and just watch the driveway. They come in expensive cars, black ones with windows tinted perhaps a little beyond what is strictly legal. I don't suppose they'd ever get stopped, I don't suppose any police car would ever be able to keep up with them. It's another slightly pathetic ploy to show off, to present themselves as powerful. I sigh quietly, and smile to myself. They do like their little displays. Might as well let them have their fun though - they won't keep their smirks for very long. When they get out of their cars, there is a tense little silence. I can hear birds coming from somewhere.

"Aro," Carlisle says, inclining his head stiffly.

"Carlisle. How good to see you again so very soon."

"I'd return the sentiment, Aro, but as I'm sure you're aware, we all know why you're here. And we're not prepared to let you take her."

"She cannot remain in our world. She could expose as all."

"And at what price to me, Aro? I have as much to lose as you. I have burnt once, Aro, and I will not do so again. We both know that if I expose you, I would go down with you. I cannot and I will not jump back into the flames. There is no way for me to return to my own world, unless you want to rip the walls of the world apart, and kill not only the population of this world, but my world, and the others. I appreciate you totally lack any conscience, but I possess one. I did what I did to save, and I will not kill again. I have witnessed what happens when I kill, and I made a promise I can never break."

"A pretty speech, Miss Granger," Caius sneers. "But you are broken and weak, and you could not stop us. You shall leave this world."

"Touch her, Caius, and I swear to whatever Gods there may be for us, you will die at my hands."

"The Major and the witch - such an enchanting love story," Aro breathes, stepping forward with hand outstretched. He's going for Jasper, and whatever happens, he cannot touch him. Marcus shifts for the first time.

"Aro, do not touch the boy."

"Marcus?"

"Do not touch him."

"Why not?"

"Because the witch does not want you to."

"I have a name."

"A name that is emblazoned in the histories of the world you come from. Fate does not allow you to return."

"Finally, someone who understands. Get back in your cars, Aro, go home. You shall not hear from me again."

"You do not make the rules here, Miss Granger."

"Do I not? I apologise, I thought whoever postured enough got to. But if your ego needs stroking to that extent, by all means think that you're in charge, Caius."

"Do not make the mistake of believing that your powers are superior to ours, Miss Granger."

"I shall make no mistake in believing that, Caius, for I know it to be true, as I have proved once already. I shall prove it again, if I must. The lines are drawn, Aro. I cannot go back. You think I will go back. Now, one of us must step down."

"Such stark shades of black and white, Miss Granger. Surely we could compromise?"

"And we could reach what compromise, Aro?" I'm so tired, and the pain is beginning to infiltrate through the morphine. Jasper puts his hand on my shoulder, and sends me some emotion I can't identify, but it helps. "I can't half stay here. I cannot half return. There are no half measures here, there can be no compromise. If there could be, I would have offered you one the moment you arrived here. I do not want this to come to a fight. Leave, Aro, take your guard with you."

"I tire of your orders, witch."

"Caius, you I will happily hurt, you I do not like. I have confronted men like you before, and I killed them. I have no time for the men who enjoy killing, who enjoy inflicting pain. For you, I would reserve the worst of the spells. Do you realise what would happen if you force me to return to my world? You will burn and you will die, along with every world. If I go, the world will die. Choose, Aro."

"This would be so easily proven, Miss Granger. All you would need to do would be to let me touch your hand. One touch, and I would recognise the truth."

"The witch speaks the truth," Marcus states.

"Marcus," I say, smiling gently at him. "Come to me." He steps away from the crowd of black cloaks, and stands in front of me. "I can't stand up, sir, and I cannot look you in the eye like this." He smiles at me, and then kneels. A ripple of murmurs echoes around the Volturi.

"Marcus," hisses Aro.

"It has been a very, very long time, old friend."

"Not so long for you."

"But centuries for you. Lifetimes for you."

"Have I changed, Hermione?"

"So very much. So much I barely knew you at first."

"Quite possibly best you didn't, Mia."

"I should have. Should have told Harry -"

"And then what? He would have tried to take me back there, and my timeline there stopped."

"Is this death? Another world?"

"Perhaps the Veil was a gateway. I'm not sure."

"It's good to see you, Sirius."

"I know." And he puts his arms around me, and I lock my own around his neck, and he's laughing and I'm crying and everyone is staring at us.

"Confused," Emmett breaks the silence. "Confused as fucking hell."

"Sorry. Um, people, I'm sorry, but this is not Marcus, at least not to me. This is Sirius Black, a man I thought I had lost forever three years ago. He fell through a Veil in my world, and we all assumed he'd died. I'd started to hope," I say, addressing Sirius once more. "I hoped. I started researching the theories of the other Worlds, the theories about the Gap and the Pathways. And I began to hope the Veil was a portal, and that you were alive. And then I saw you. And I thought, but dismissed it. And then I realised. While I was in the Gap, while I burnt, I knew. It was like - like I could see everything, Sirius. Everything. And I knew who you were."

"I knew who you were, straight away. You haven't changed - or at least, you hadn't. You look absolutely awful."

"Why thank you, you effortless charmer. You should have seen me last week."

"No, thanks. How was Harry?"

"He's fine."

"I see. Hermione, we shall leave you, and your new family, in peace. Aro, Caius - our business here is done. She remains in this world. And you, young miss, I shall come to visit you. So you must be well and fit."

"Marcus?"

"We're leaving, Aro. Now."

And to all our amazements, after just a moment of dead quiet, they turn away, and they go. And Sirius and I share one last hug, and I watch him drive away, and then the merciful, merciful blackness takes me, and I feel Jasper's cool arms scoop me up. And its done, I have the closure I never had for Sirius, the closure we all fought so hard for. We knew the Ministry was lying about the Veil, but we could never prove it. They knew, they knew what that Veil was, and where it led. If I'm right, and I know deep down that I am, it will now just be an empty arch. I only want to watch their faces when Harry tells them what he knows.

_**A/N: Next chapter, we're going back to Hogwarts! And did you all like my little twist?**_


	16. Chapter 16

EmmettPOV

Hermione is still in bed two days later. We're all coming to terms with the revelations about Marcus, or Sirius as she called him outside. Jasper's still pacing back and forth, having gone after to Volturi to pick a fight. In the end, so Edward reports, Marcus took him aside and had a frank discussion with him, although neither Edward nor Jasper will tell us what was said between them. He came back, and Esme had grabbed him and told him is he ever did that to her again, she'd strangle him.

She hasn't moved a muscle yet, and Carlisle has drugged her to the hilt. He's not taking any chances, and has her fully sedated.

"She needs to _heal, _Jasper," he says, wearily, for at least the tenth time. "She can do that if she's shut down for a few days. Now for goodness sake, Emmett, take him hunting and keep him out for two days. Then, when you get back, we'll wake her up. But get the fuck out of this house, or I swear to God I will chain you in the basement."

"But -"

"No buts." Edward and I drag him out the house, and haul him off to the woods.

"No point getting agitated, bro. She can take care of herself."

"How'd you feel it was Rosalie?" he demands in response to this.

"I get why you're stressed. That's not my point."

"I know what your point was!" he says, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And I know that you're stressed because you thought you'd be human by now," Edward says, sagely.

"Does that make me a bad person?" he says, chewing his lip.

"No. You got all psyched up about it, and then it got snatched away. Classic reaction. Plus you love her and stuff."

"I am not comfortable having this conversation with you guys."

"Good thing Hermione is equally weirded out about talking about how she feels, otherwise it'd be whiteboard messages from here to Christmas."

"Just because that's how you and Alice communicate, mate."

"Whatever. Lets go hunt. I can smell a mountain lion not far north, and some grizzly too."

We keep him occupied for a couple of days, at least enough to prevent him from talking of her constantly. But he's agitating to be off the day of our return, and his amber eyes glow whenever somebody mentions her name. I look at him curiously, wondering what he'll look like with colour in his face and with grey eyes. He always says he used to have grey eyes. It's such an incomprehensible change, such a huge choice to make. I'm not sure I could make it. There's so many risks attached to the change, so much that could so easily go wrong. And what will it be like once he is human, once he's settled down with Hermione and had babies and all that human stuff. And what will it be like for us to watch him aging and - and dying. Once they both look old enough to be our parents. Will we all be able to stay together? I suppose they'd want a life together, jobs maybe. I know Jasper wants children, and I think Hermione does too. I can see them in a little cottage together, snuggled down by an open fireplace. They won't want to move about all the time, they'll want to settle down so their kids can go to school and make friends. Hermione is a social creature, even if she likes to just sit in company sometimes. Someone will have to make a sacrifice. Perhaps we could all stay local, work something out, even if it's flying back and forth a lot.

Edward hangs back, saying he wants to stay out a bit longer. Jasper makes an impatient gesture and carries on alone. I stay with Edward, thinking its some kind of thing so Jasper can have that first reunion alone. But I realise pretty quickly that he actually wants to talk to me.

"Alice was thinking the same thing last night. I don't want to lose them, none of us do, but it isn't going to be possible to live together. They'll want their own life, but I also know that both Hermione and Jasper want us close by. There's no reason why we can't live in the next state, and visit every week. There's no reason why we can't live in the same state once in a while."

"But we can't live with them."

"No, they'll want their privacy. Once Hermione is fit to travel and all that, which Carlisle reckons will take a good year. They'll get the use out of the cottage here, and - well, this is a secret, but Esme is having an exact replica built in Ireland."

"What?"

"She's having an exact replica of the cottage built in Ireland. When Hermione and Jasper move, we'll get some of the fittings out and taken over. Don't tell Jasper, whatever you do, it's meant to be an absolute secret."

"Nice. Hermione will protest about the money."

"She's going to have to get used to it. Jasper is worth a hell of a lot of money."

"How much are we all worth, individually?" I ask with interest. I don't think anyone has ever actually sat down and calculated our individual wealth.

"Lots. Carlisle and Esme are worth five billion, and they're the richest, because Carlisle is the oldest. Jasper's next, and he's got around 4.9 billion, which is growing every day because of that Civil War book series he wrote and the publishing company he owns. I'm next, and Alice and I have a combined fortune of 4.2 billion. You and Rosalie have the same."

"Wow. Thinks she knows she's marrying a billionaire?"

"I doubt it. I don't think any of us actually know how much we're all worth. I just did it out of curiosity. But that fortune will keep amassing for them, passing down through their family. It'll go for generations, and we'll look after them."

"I suppose. It's going to be strange, when he's not here anymore. You know. When they're - well."

"I know," he says in a low voice, slightly thick. "But it's what he wants, Emmett. We can't stop him, no matter how hard it is for us. He wants a human life with her, and we can't stand in his way for that."

"I know. Doesn't make it any easier though."

"I don't think it'll ever be easy. Come on, we'd better get back to the house. She's awake now."

JPOV

She wakes up slowly, and she seems a bit disorientated. Carlisle takes her blood pressure, a blood sample and her temperature.

"Bed rest for you, until your blood pressure comes back down. But apart from that, you seem well. Well, at least, your injuries seem like they're healing nicely. I am not discharging you as my patient for at least a year, but after that, you are out of my hands. You'll need a fair amount of physiotherapy, there's some quite bad muscle wastage. Or, total lack of muscle. Anyway, I'll give you both some time alone. I'll come back later to check you over thoroughly." He slips out silently, and I'm aware that they've left us alone again, probably to work on the cottage again. I take her hand, press a kiss onto her palm.

"You have no idea how worried I've been."

"You went after Sirius and the others. You wanted a fight, but he put you off."

"You know everything."

"I saw it, in Edward's mind. He is a good man, Jasper. I will tell you about him, soon."

"You loved him, I see it in your eyes."

"Not in the way you think. Yes, I loved him, as one might love a member of their family. I loved Harry in exactly the same way, and what I feel for them is not the same as what I feel for you."

"I know. I'm sorry you couldn't stay with them. I'm sorry there was nothing I could do to get you back to them."

"Hey," she says, softly. She tips my chin up so I look into her eyes. "Hey. Don't be sorry. None of this is your fault. I did what I had to do, what needed to be done. My sacrifice was made willingly and I made my own choice. If this is the price to pay to save the world, what right do I have to regret it, to mourn my loss?"

"I honestly believe you are an angel that got lost on her way to Heaven, and that I don't deserve you."

"That's what they said to me. The versions of me in the Gap. That I was a gift from the angels. That I was the epitome of everything good and light, that I didn't have any sense of evil, without a mark on my soul. A gift from the angels. That I wasn't capable of being evil, no matter what I did. I never believed in Heaven, the afterlife, God. I didn't think there was anything after we died. It frightened me, but I didn't believe there could possibly be anything else. But then I met them, and if I am really the gift from the angels, like they said, then there must be more, there must be more after we die. There has to be something."

"I don't know anymore. I used to think I knew. But I could believe again."

"Jasper, in whatever's next - when we die. If you leave me first - will you wait for me there?"

"You don't even need to ask me that. I would wait for as long as it took. And if you go first - would you wait too? In whatever's next?"

"I would wait. No matter how long for, I would wait."


	17. Chapter 17

HOGWARTS

HarryPOV

Ginny and I are kneeling in Hermione's old room, packing up her things. Hannah Abbott is going to be the new Head Girl, and first, we need to clear Hermione's things from the room. Everything was just so Hermione - books stacked in alphabetical order on the shelves, clothes coded according to colour.

"She was so tidy. Remember how she'd follow Ron around that summer after the war, picking up after him? He'd get so annoyed."

"I remember. Even when we were hunting bloody Horcruxes, she'd be tidying up every spare minute, fussing round us. Made us laugh."

"I wish there was some way we could give her all this back. All her books - she loved these all so much."

"Ginny, I know it's hard. But she's a hero now. Mind you, she always was. She saved the world - two worlds, all the worlds. And everyone knows she was right now." Professor McGonagall interrupts us, and there's someone standing in the hallway behind her.

"There's somebody here to see you." The girl she ushers in is a complete stranger.

"I have brought a message for Harry Potter." She holds out her hand, in which lies Hermione's locket. "Hermione Granger asked me to give you this." Before we can say anything to the girl, she walks quietly away. Minerva McGonagall closes the door softly behind her, and I open the locket.

A six-inch high figure of Hermione stands in the locket. She stands smiling at us.

"Harry, the girl who just gave you this message was a resident of the Gap. I cannot explain - I had to promise. Nobody can ever know the true nature of the Gap. But she agreed to bring you this message. I did it, Harry. I made the necessary sacrifice, but I'll be OK. I'm going to be happy, Harry, and so are you. I'll never forget you. Maybe we'll see each other again, in what's waiting for us after we all die. Say goodbye to Ginny and Ron. Tell them I love them. And never forget that I love you too, and that I always shall." She waves at us cheerfully, and then vanishes. Ginny chokes on a sob.

"I miss her so much," she says softly.

"I know. So do I. but I believe in nothing as much as I believe in her. She said she'd be OK, and I know she will. I'd know if anything had happened." I put my arm around her, and she cradles her tiny little baby bump.

"We should call her Hermione."

"We should," I agree, putting my hand over hers. "And when she's old enough to understand, we can tell her about the Hermione who we named her for, and we can tell her how she was a hero and how she saved the world. And she be proud of her too."

"I just miss her so much. I just can't see how we're going to be without her. Ron's in pieces. He's lost without her, he can barely even look at pictures of her. I wanted him to help us, I thought it might help him come to terms with it. But he wouldn't. He still believes she'll find a way back."

"I wish that. But I saw - when I met her in the office, and she had Jasper with her - I saw the way she looked at him. She'll realise how she feels about him, how he feels about her, and they'll be happy together. She'll find a new family, but they'll never replace us, and we'll never find anyone to come close to her." She leans into my arms, and for a moment, we feel our baby kick, and we remember her.

FORKS, WA

HPOV

I'm out in the garden, and the sun, to make a nice change, is shining. They're all in the shade of one of the big, ancient oaks, with solid, massive trunks, and gnarled branches, but Carlisle has parked me in the sun, and it's nice and mild. I've got a light cardigan on, and I'm down to light dressings. My hands are totally free and I can walk much further without pain. My chest is still bad, and that's what is worrying Carlisle, as the rest of me is healing so rapidly. I'm not too concerned though - I know I'm alright, and there's always Essence of Dittany. Jasper leaves the others, who are lying in about in attitudes which frankly suggest they've all over-eaten. They all went hunting this morning, as I insisted I would be absolutely fine without them, and they seem to have made up for lost time. Jasper finally stirs himself to stand and come over to me. He breaks into glitter - honestly, after the first couple of times, that stuff is just quite odd, and more than a little off-putting - and bends over me to ask if I want anything.

"Could you just wheel me out of the sun, it's getting a bit too warm?"

"Sure. There you go."

"Thanks."

"Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?"

"Jasper, stop fussing over Hermione like an old mother hen and come back over here. We want to finish our puzzle," Alice teases. This puzzle is huge. It's got 200,000 pieces, all tiny, and they ordered it online, specially made. They've put it out on the grass on a big board It's enough to provide them with a bit of a challenge, enough to keep them amused for a while. I smile at Jasper, and he joins the others on the grass.

"I'm fine, thank you. Can I help with your puzzle?" Emmett jumps up before Jasper can rejoin me, and pushes me a bit closer.

"Can I put you on the grass?"

"Hermione can be on the grass if she wants to be on the grass," Carlisle says, from where he and Esme are snuggled up together. There's been a bit of necking going on over there. Emmett lifts me very, very gently, and places me on the grass.

"Alright there?"

"Yes thanks."

"Alright, here's the box of puzzle pieces and here are some bowls. You can start sorting out sky and grass."

"How fun."

"Don't mock our puzzle," Emmett says, poking me in the cheek. I suppose he'd normally go for my ribs, but I'm ninety percent bandages there.

"I'm not mocking your puzzle, the puzzle is lovely. Here, why not just turn the pieces over, look, all the grey matches."

"Don't quit the day job, you are not the best comedienne in the world."

"You're so rude."

"According to your theory, I'm half God. I can be as rude as I want."

"Rosalie, am I going to regret telling him that?"

"Yes, yes you are."

"You're half God, Emmett, not actual God. I'm told, back on my world, there is a cult that actually worships me. To them, I am a God."

"Are you serious?" Edward asks.

"Absolutely. They're quite respected, and are reasonably sane, nothing too extreme. They're called The Cult of the Woman of the Gold."

"Nice. Ever visited?"

"No, but I happened to meet one of their members on a trip to America a few months ago. He was friendly, and nice - a little star-struck, but nice. I tried very hard to make it easy for him. He did invite me back to visit them, but I didn't have enough time, I had to go back to England. I think the basis of this - cult - is that they follow my example."

"Can't be a bad thing. You set a reasonable example."

"Just reasonable?"

"Well, you do have a thing for fire." We share a laugh at that.

"Well, I've got lots of sky and grass. What's this going to be?"

"Here's the box."

"It's the clearing. The clearing where you found me."

"It is. We can make one up for you and Jasper if you like, with a smaller number of bits."

"I'd like that."

"The next full moon is in a week," Jasper murmurs to me, looking at me.

"Yes. One more week," I say, putting a hand on his knee.

JPOV

Yes, just another week. And then I will be human, and she and I can be together, and spend our lives in our little cottage. It'll be wonderful. I kiss her gently, feel her smile under my lips. Yes, it will be wonderful.


	18. Chapter 18

HPOV

Two days before the full moon, I gather the ingredients for Jasper's Potion. The family are in the living room, and I am in the garden, with a small cooking cauldron hanging on a tripod over a fire. I can feel them watching me, but it's not hostile. They're concerned, first and foremost, of any side-effects or problems that may occur as a result of this Potion.

The first stage is the easiest - I just mix the general ingredients, and there are no special instructions for it. The magic happens when you mix the venom and the blood into the mixture. Jasper is watching me too, but he's in the garden, some way off, under a tree. I'm able to stand now, move about the pot, do the mixing, do the adding. It's easy, this bit, and having the range of motion makes it all the easier. After an hour, I call Jasper over.

"Life the pot off the fire, put it on the stones. It has to cool for a full day - tomorrow night, before dark, we'll add your venom. We'll put it in the clearing, and at midnight, we add my blood." He lifts the pot, places it on a large, completely flat stone that Emmett found by the river, and we place it well away from the fire, which I douse with water.

"The transformation takes three days?"

"Yes. Remember that you need to be sure, Jasper. Totally sure. I cannot reverse the Potion, once I have administered it."

"I am sure, Hermione."

"Then, on Sunday, you will be human. You only have to make your final choice right before you drink it."

"Are you trying to talk me out of this?"

"No, Jasper, I'm not trying to talk you out of it, it's just - mortality is a definite choice. It's delayed finality. Sooner or later, you'd die and that would be it."

"Yes. And I would die with you as my wife, and I'd die an old man." He frames my face in his hands. "I want to die an old man, Hermione, warm in a bed, safe and old and ready. If I want death like this, I would need to be ripped apart and then burnt. When I first told you I wanted to be human, I didn't tell you that I wanted stock things. I wanted to fall in love, and I wanted to hold my wife in my arms and feel her, soft and warm, and not feel like I'd break her, I wanted to see my children grow up, I wanted to be able to have them. I've already taken that first step, I have fallen in love. I want to spend my life with you, Hermione. I want to have children with you and I want to watch them grow up. I swear to you, I am not going to backtrack on this."

"The Cullen's have been your family for many years. Will you miss them?"

"Yes. But they will always be my family, and that won't change. Hermione, I am sure about this."

"OK. I just needed to make sure."

"Thank you for caring enough to be sure. What shall we do with it in the mean time?"

"We should carry it into the house, once the metal has cooled fully, to protect it."

"Protect it?"

"Might just be better to keep it out of the open. Don't want any leaves or whatnot falling into it."

"Fun. How will you stop that happening in the clearing?"

"I'll put a protective shield around it, a magical one that won't stop the moonlight getting through. I can't do that now because it'd hold the heat in and it won't cool properly if that happened. We just leave it for now."

So we leave it, and then we move it into the house. I stir it at regular intervals, to stop it congealing and to make sure air reaches all of the potion, not just the top. And the rest of that day, and the night, and the rest of the next day passes. And just before sunset, Emmett carries the cauldron to the clearing. The entire family comes, but most of them hang back on the line of the trees. Only Carlisle and Jasper follow me into the clearing itself, after Emmett has placed it in the centre.

"Are you ready?" I ask Jasper.

"Yes. How much do you need?"

"I need you to fill this vial. It's about a litre."

"OK." Carlisle takes the vial from me, and Jasper raises his wrist to his mouth. A dark silver, viscous substances begins to trickle slowly from the wound he's opened up, and Carlisle catches the stream with the vial. When it's full, he hands to me, and Jasper lowers himself unsteadily to the floor. While Carlisle tends to Jasper, I suspend the vial in mid air, over the caution, and banish the glass away, leaving the liquid to drop slowly into the cauldron. Instantly, the Potion bubbles violently and turns a bright, shimmering gold. I hear Alice gasp behind me, and the liquid rolls. I step back, and erect the shield around the cauldron.

"You OK?" I ask Jasper, sitting beside him on the grass. It's dark now, the sun sets very quickly here. The moon is visible through the leaves of the trees, but it won't be fully overhead until midnight. Already, however, the potion is responding, rolling and bubbling like a cheerful stream.

"I'm good."

"Hermione? We drawing this blood now or later?"

"Now is fine. Jasper, hold these. I need to drink them right after. It's going to make me dizzy as hell."

"Good thing I'm a doctor then." Carlisle sets up, and I cast a spell to sterilise the area around us. He wipes my arms with some anaesthetic cream and sterilises the area. "Close your eyes. You feel that?"

"No."

"OK, here goes. Putting the needle in now." He's very, very good, and it's over quickly. Jasper uncorks the vials and hands them over one by one. I shudder after the third.

"That is vile, vile stuff."

"Here," Esme says quietly. She holding out a Tupperware box. "I remember after the - after you came back, you said they tasted vile. I brought you some sandwiches - get rid of the taste and stave off hunger."

"Thank you, I say quietly. Carlisle is checking things like blood pressure and heart rate, and then hands me three medical bags of blood. More than one vampire is currently licking their lips, no doubt. "You people don't have to stay. I appreciate I smell pretty good."

"You do," Emmett says, blandly. "But somehow, I'm not being overcome with the desire to suck your blood."

"Nope, me neither."

"Maybe it's a witch thing," Carlisle suggests.

"Maybe. What time is it?" I ask.

"Half past ten. What do we do?" Edward asks, softly.

"We just wait," I say, quietly. Jasper reaches for me and takes me in his arms. "Jasper. I get that you want cuddling. But this is really, really not comfortable."

"Sorry." He rearranges us, so he's leaning back against a tree stump, and I'm leaning back into his chest, his arms crossed over my front. I can see the others now, my eyes adjusting to the light.

It's a very long couple of hours, but finally, Edward's watch beeps.

"Two minutes," he says, very quietly. I stand up and approach the cauldron. Jasper brings the bags of blood, and I lower the field.

"We add the blood, and then, at sunrise - you drink it."

"How much of it?"

"All of it. There's a fair bit there, I know, but I don't think it hurts while you're drinking it."

"You don't think."

"Nobody ever recorded that part."

"It's midnight," Edward says, very quietly. I look up, and see the moon overhead, huge and pale. The Potion is bubbling like it's boiling, and the noise is very loud in the silent woods. Jasper hands me the first bag of blood, and Carlisle hands me a knife. One by one, I slit the bags and add the blood. As the last drop hit's the surface of the Potion, it turns red, then blue, and finally turns to glittering silver. The moonlight sparkles off the surface, and its like a cauldron full of diamonds.

"It's beautiful. It's like magic," Alice whispers.

"It is magic." I put the field back up and retreat.

"Sunrise is at six thirty."

"Hermione, you should go back to the house, get some sleep."

"No, I should stay here." Edward leaves the clearing.

"Then you'll sleep here," Jasper says. "But you must sleep."

"OK. OK, I'll sleep. Wake me before sunrise, or if the Potion changes."

"What are we looking for?"

"It should keep glittering like that. When the moon leaves, obviously it'll stop, but if you shine a light on it, it should glitter. Check it every five minutes, that's very important. If it doesn't glitter, wake me up."

"OK." Edward returns, holding blankets and carrying a mattress. He makes up the bed for me, and I climb into it, accepting that I'm exhausted. I close my eyes, and almost immediately everything sounds far, far away.

CPOV

We check the Potion as instructed, but it never changes. the only sounds in the clearing is the bubbling Potion and Hermione's slow, even breaths. Jasper's leaning on the mattress beside her, and he's looking down at her sleeping form like some guardian angel from the stories. Before we can even begin to think about how many implications the contents of that cauldron has, the first rays of light are creeping over the trees. Jasper looks up, and then he places a gentle hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"Wake up," he whispers, shaking gently. "It's nearly sunrise."

"Nooooo," Hermione mumbles, snuggling deeper into her blankets. "Five more minutes." I see Jasper smile, and then he leans down and kisses her cheek.

"You have to wake up, beautiful." She finally stirs and pushes the duvet away.

"OK, I'm up. I'm awake. How is it?" She asks, coming over to the cauldron.

"Still glittery."

"Good. Jasper?" She says, holding her hand out to my son. He takes it, takes her hand goes to the cauldron. He hands her a glass, and she dips it into the cauldron, and brings it out full of glittering silver liquid, and she hands it back to Jasper. They look at each other. "It's only final when you take the first sip." He keeps looking at her, and then he raises the glass to his lips and drinks.

When the cauldron is empty, he stays standing.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asks him.

"Um. I feel - I feel - I can't feel you. I can't feel any of you." He looks frightened.

"It's starting. I think it'll be quick for you. Carlisle, we need to get him back to the house." Hermione approaches him, and he looks down at her. Already he looks less pale. "I'll see you very soon," she whispers to him, and then he falls. His legs give out, and he just goes. She tries to catch him, but he's a dead weight. Emmett takes Jasper's unconscious form into his arms, and heads back to the house.

It's time.


	19. Chapter 19

HPOV

Jasper is very, very still. The last rays of sunrise have left the sky, and outside the light is warm and dusty, the promise of a hot summer day to come. He's barely visibly changed, but somehow he looks different.

"How long do you think it will be before I can get the needles into him?"

"About another six hours. Maybe seven. It'll be quick for him, but it will hurt."

"Do you think it's hurting him now?"

"Yes. I should think it is."

"You seem very calm."

"If I panic now, what can I ever do to help him? He needs me. He'll need for a while."

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"It says three days. But it'll probably be less for him, if he was already losing his power in the clearing. Two. Maybe a day and a half. It'll be bad. Esme might not want to hear it."

"We're staying. All of us. I'll be on hand when he wakes up."

"Thank you. I don't know what state he'll be in, although it should be OK. He wasn't ill, or injured, or so he says. So it should be OK."

"But you can't know."

"There's no way to know. You know how rare this is. I'm not going to know anything until he wakes up and I can run my own tests."

"Hermione, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Will he wake up magical?" I nearly drop the glass I'm holding. Carlisle manages to right it before I throw juice everywhere.

"Jesus. I don't know, I didn't even think - I don't know. In the cases in my world, the vampires are magical creatures anyway. We aren't even sure how we are magical. If it's in the blood, then yes, it is very likely. If he is - well, then we'll have to deal with it."

"How will it affect your children?"

"With no other magical bloodline in the world, within two or three generations, it'll die out. And there's nothing to nurture it, so it's pretty likely that it'll lie dormant in everyone but us. It's fine. It won't affect any world events or anything like that."

It's almost lunchtime, and Jasper has begun to visibly alter. His former chalky pallor is now just a natural pale complexion. He just looks like an ill human now. Carlisle ducks in and out, preferring to leave us alone.

"He looks awful."

"I know. He's changing from vampire to human. His system is fighting the stuff making him exist. He's dying, Carlisle."

"Don't say that."

"But he is. He'll become a dead man first, which is what he is. When his system has fought the vampire cells off, he'll be dead. And then he's go backwards. You're a doctor - have you treated people with very late-stage cancer?"

"Of course."

"It's going to be like that, but backwards. He'll die, and then he'll recover, very slowly. His skin is getting softer. Do you think you could get a needle through it?" He bends over Jasper's still form, and takes a needle, pressing it onto the skin of the inside of his arm.

"No. Not yet. There's give - but not enough to break all the layers. And his heart needs to be beating before I can pump the morphine in. Is he hurting now?"

"I don't know," I say, desperately. "If he's suffering like the case notes say he should be, he should be screaming and screaming. Maybe it's because he isn't breathing yet. I don't know. I wish I did. We could pump his heart manually, push the morphine through. But I don't know how that would interfere, or if it would."

"We should wait."

"We should. It kills me, not knowing."

"Can't you cast a spell? Find out?" he asks me, and I can feel the same pain I'm feeling.

"Of course I could."

"What? Then why the hell don't you?"

"I get your anger. I get it. But think. If he's controlling the pain, forcing himself not to scream, he's doing that for a reason. I don't know what that reason is, but he has one. So I'm not going to invade his privacy like that, in the same way I'd expect him to do the same if our positions were reversed. So no, I'm not going to sneak inside his head and read all the hurt I find there. Because it isn't my business."

"OK. OK. I'm sorry. I just want to help him."

"You are helping. He probably knows you're here, and he probably knows you care. He's fine." His face is immobile, but he no longer looks like he's carved from marble. He looks softer. Carlisle puts a stethoscope onto his chest and listens.

"I think I'm getting something - but I've never heard anything like it." I yank the stethoscope out of his ears and put it in my own, placing the end on his chest.

"You're right, that is weird. Go to those notes over there, look at page ten, tell me what it said about the heart starting to beat, read it to me." He rummages and then seizes up a single sheet of parchment.

"Uh, it says - it says that 'The heart of the taker will begin to beat in the ways of the dying, with splutters and coughs.'"

"When, does it say when?"

"On the second day."

"This is too fast, Carlisle, it's too fast! We shouldn't be at this point, we really shouldn't. He shouldn't look like this, he should still be hard and cold. I don't know how this is going to be now, I can't tell."

"I'm going to get the morphine into him. If he's got even a tiny pulse, it can be pumped through him. I can stop him feeling this."

APOV

"This is too fast, Carlisle, it's too fast! We shouldn't be at this point, we really shouldn't. He shouldn't look like this, he should still be hard and cold. I don't know how this is going to be now, I can't tell."

"Something's wrong, something's gone wrong. We should be in there."

"And what can we do once we are, other than clutter up the room? Carlisle and Hermione can help him now. There's nothing we can do, apart from get in their way and piss them both off something chronic. We need to keep out of their way, that's how we can help now."

"I just want to be able to do something."

"I am aware of that, Alice," Carlisle says, coming downstairs. "But keeping out of her way will be doing something."

"What's happening up there? Why did she say it was going too fast? Is he dying?"

"Alice, I wish I could answer those questions. But I don't know the answers to them and nor does Hermione. This is all new. She thinks he'll be human by dinner. The whole thing over in twelve hours, but she doesn't know what it's going to be like. If he'll be OK. He has a pulse now, and it's gaining in strength. He's dying in reverse, he's being reborn. There's nothing more I can do. He's in Hermione's hands now, she knows what's best. If anything can be done now, she'll help him."

And so there's nothing left to do but wait. Wait and listen to one heartbeat going steady and one heartbeat getting a little stronger every hour until it's just as steady as hers, a vital beat, something so very, very strong. And there is a new scent, to accompany Hermione's slightly spicy, floral scent - a citrus-y and warm smell. There are two humans here now, instead of only one. It's happened. He's human.


	20. Chapter 20

HPOV

I bend over Jasper, muttering spells and reading the results. All seems well - there's no indication of magic present, and there're no major health troubles; other than he seems to have some teeth troubles, probably because of the diet he would have lived on. I fix that, and then step back. His breathing is very slow and even, and his eyelids are fluttering gently. There is a warm flush to his cheeks and he has a golden, olive tone to his skin. Finally, his eyelids lift and I'm met with a pair of beautiful steel grey eyes.

JPOV

I can hear my heart beating in my ears. It's so strange. I didn't know it at first, but at first there was only blinding pain. All I knew was that I wasn't allowed to scream. Esme and Hermione would hate hearing me scream. So I stop myself screaming, and I could feel everything. It wasn't the fire of my first transformation, it was burning, burning ice. I imagined I'd smash into a thousand frozen fragments like a rose dipped into liquid nitrogen. And then I could feel my heart spluttering and coughing and I felt so, so ill. I remembered being human and I remembered having influenza as a child, and how awful I felt. How worried my mother was, because then influenza could so easily have been a death sentence.

My mother. I remember my mother. I'd almost forgotten her entirely. The vampiric change took that from me, the memories of my mother. She was beautiful. She was blonde and she had green eyes. I have my mother's hair - curly and wild. I have my father's eyes, and his height and build. But facially, I am the image of my mother. I remember her, a tiny woman with a fiery passion for life and everything she believed in. She stood a good foot and a half shorter than my father, and I was already taller than her on the day I joined up. She was so worried then, too. Because I don't want to think about the burn, I think about her. She used to sing to me when I was a child and scared, scared of the monsters under the bed and the monsters in the cupboard. She was wonderful. A month after I "disappeared", I read in the local newspaper that she'd died. My father couldn't survive without her, and a week later, his obituary appeared in the papers and they buried him with my mother. Every year on my birthday, I go back to their grave and put flowers there. I hope they knew I did my best to remember them. I hope they know that now I can remember properly, I'll remember them all the time.

Gradually, I started to feel less like I was dying. I could hear my heartbeat getting steadier, and I was aware of the fact that there were people in the room with me. There was a man and a woman, and someone put something cold on my chest. Cold. I could feel cold. They were talking, and the woman sounded so worried. I wanted to tell her not to be, that I was OK. Something was happening too quickly. I was changing too fast. I want to tell her that it's alright, that I'm alright, but I know if I open my mouth, I won't be able to speak, I'll just scream. And I can't let her hear that. But slowly, something begins to numb the pain, until there is just an electric tingle along my veins, and I can think without being blinded.

Suddenly, one person leaves and the door shuts behind them. A gentle hand strokes my hair and face.

"Jasper, I don't know if you can hear me. It's me, Hermione. I think you're close now, just stay strong for me. I hope the morphine works, I hope you don't suffer too much. I'm going to look after you now, I promise. I wish you could tell me how you are. I'll do everything I can to help you." Warm breath is against my cheek, and she drops her voice to a whisper. "I love you." I wish now I could say something to her, but now I can't move at all. Whatever they gave me has paralysed me completely and I can't respond.

I don't know how long it is, but eventually the numb electric tingle recedes and the pain isn't there any longer. It isn't like before. Outside the window, I can hear a bird. Inside the room, I can hear someone moving around. They're very close to me, whoever they are. In fact, I think they're bending over me. I can hear her - it's definitely a woman - muttering. The same gentle hand strokes my hair again, and then they seem to retreat. Finally, I can allow my eyelids to lift. I open my eyes and immediately have to close them again. The light's so bright and immediate. I'd forgotten what it was like to open your eyes after being in darkness, and see light. I've forgotten so much. As my eyes adjust, they figure above me resolves itself into the familiar form of Hermione. My Hermione. I feel an overpowering rush of love for this girl. I remember her.

"Jasper," she breathes. "Jasper."

"Hermione," I say, slowly, adjusting to the need to breath to speak and stuff. I swallow, feeling moisture in my mouth.

"You know me, then?"

"Yes."

"OK. I need to ask you a couple of questions, is that OK?"

"Yeah," I say, listening to my voice.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm - I'm - I'm not sure. In here," I say, putting my hand to my tummy, "I feel a bit empty."

"I think that's hunger. We'll get you something to eat. Do you want blood?"

"No."

"OK. Are you in any pain?"

"No. I don't think so."

"Were you?"

"Yes, but I couldn't scream. It'd upset you and it'd cause Esme pain."

"You angel," she whispers, putting her hand to my face. I lean into her palm and she smiles at me. "You're warm. So warm."

"I feel it."

"You'll adjust. You don't feel feverish or anything. And I checked you over, you were in remarkably good shape for a Civil War boy. I fixed your teeth though, they were not great." I reach out a hesitant hand and touch her face.

"You don't feel so fragile now."

"That's because you aren't a vampire now," she murmurs, taking my hand and placing it on my own chest, taking the other and placing it on hers. "Our hearts are beating. We're the same now. Are you happy?"

"Yes. Yes, I am. Thank you."

"It's OK. It's OK. Well, I can pass you fit and well. I checked for the bonding. We don't have it."

"Oh, yes we do," I murmur to her. She smiles at me with wonderful softness, and she leans forward and kisses me gently. I slide my hands into her hair and feel her go into my embrace so easily. For the first time since I met her, I know that she's not going to break if I hold her too hard, or kiss her too much. I can hold her in my arms, and not worry about shattering her like glass.

"You ready to see the others? They're practically chomping at the damn bit down there."

"That's fine. We'll have our time later."

"Yes, we will," she promises. "Alright," she says, raising her voice a fraction. "You can all come in now." I swear I hear a muffled shriek from downstairs, and then the room is full. I shrink back a bit. It's actually quite alarming, all of them just appearing. "Guys, new human. Go easy," Hermione warns.

After a brief pause, Esme steps forward. She approaches pretty slowly, and then holds her arms out. She's waiting for me to accept the hug. I smile at her and she practically hurls herself at me. I just about manage to steady her weight, and I realise with a jolt how _cold _she is. There're goosebumps rising on my skin. Apparently, she feels this, because she steps away.

"I'm so pleased you're OK. We were so worried." She steps aside and takes my hand in hers. Carlisle smiles at me.

"Tomorrow, I'll check you over. But you look fine to me."

"Hey, bro," Emmett says, grinning widely. "What's it like being all alive?"

"You make that sound like a dirty word," I return rapidly.

"It is, you're a _breather_. Urgh, a _breather._"

"You don't smell massively appealing," Alice comments, sniffing the air.

"You really don't. I mean you smell good - but I don't want to chow down on your jugular."

"That is a very great comfort, Edward, thank you."

"Indeed it is," Hermione say dryly. "He smells perfectly acceptable to me."

"You smell pretty good too," I say to her softly, and she smirks at me. She tucks herself into my side and I anchor a arm around her waist. She snuggles close and plants a soft kiss on my lips, and I feel her smile curve as I respond.

"Oh, good lord. You're in company," Rose protests, smiling at us both.

"But he's so soft and warm," Hermione protests, smiling. Alice comes over to us and prods my arm.

"So he is." She pokes a little too hard, and the slight dart of pain makes me exclaim a little. "Sorry, " she apologizes. "Plenty of give to you."

"What do you want to do first?" Hermione asks, taking my hand in hers.

"There's something I want to show you," I say to her, looking at Esme and Alice, who both wear identical grins.

"OK," Hermione says, looking slightly uncertain. "I guess we could do that." Esme and Alice dart from the room and I blink at the suddenness.

"Did I use to move that fast? That's weird."

"Now you know how disorientating it is. Get someone to carry you at some point, you'll understand why I wanted to walk back from the clearing."

"OK, I'll do that later," Emmett says, fidgeting with excitement. "Come on, you two!"

"Emmett, chill," Hermione says, laughing. "OK, take it slow getting up, you're going to have to get used to moving as a human again. You might find it a bit unsteady at first." Carlisle comes to us and he steadies me as I slide down from the bed. Black spots cloud my vision for a moment, and I grab at Carlisle.

"What the hell was that."

"Blood rushing round you, getting used to standing after a long time of lying down. It's totally normal, don't worry. You feeling better?"

"Yeah. OK." I take a few tentative steps. It's so strange. I haven't got any shoes on, and the cool chill of the laminate floor strikes up through my socks. This floor feels smooth under my feet, but before, I remember the slight imperfections that I was so aware of. Edward is holding out a pair of shoes to me, and I put them on and lace them up. Before, I would have done this in a fraction of a second, and now I can feel that it takes longer, and I have to move more slowly to get it right. "Everything feels so different."

"You'll get used to it. Most of the actions will become familiar to you," Hermione says, reassuringly. "Stand up slowly." I heed her advice this time, and there's not return of the light-headedness. Suddenly, my stomach makes a very strange noise, and she lets out a merry peal of laughter. "Someone's hungry."

"There's food waiting. Come on, let's go."

We lead Hermione away from the house, and her smile increases all the while. I never knew the cottage was so far from the house. It seems to take quite a long time, but I don't think it does, because Hermione doesn't make any comment on it. Just before we reach the line of trees that hide the cottage, I turn to her.

"Do you trust me?" I ask her.

"Yes."

"OK." I cover her eyes with my hands, and we carry on walking. Everyone but Carlisle is standing outside the cottage, and Alice is practically dancing on the spot with excitement. "You ready?" I ask her, and she nods. I can feel her eyelashes fluttering on my palms, and it tickles. I uncover her eyes and she gasps.

"It's so pretty!"

"Yeah, it's ours."

"It's ours?"

"Yeah, it's ours. I mean, if you want it to be."

"Normally, we'd go on some dates before we moved in together, but I think me granting your lifelong wish counts as a fair few dates."

"We can still go on dates. I could buy you dinner."

"You could."

"So, do you like it?" Alice half shrieks. Clearly couldn't bear the tension any more.

"Yes, I do, I like it a lot. Can I see inside?"

"Jasper can do the tour. There are sandwiches and stuff in the kitchen. Take your time and everything, just come join us when you're ready. They melt away, and they leave Hermione and I standing in the pretty front garden together.

"Shall we eat first?" she proposes, taking my hand in hers. "And then you can show me our new house."

"Our new house," I repeat, kissing her smile. I lead her up our front path and open up our front door. This is my beginning. This is our beginning together, and this is what I wanted. I have never been so happy.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: For my American readers who may not know of English-isms: crisps are what you would call chips : ) If you already knew this, very good; if not, now you do : )

HPOV

It's such a pretty little cottage, tucked among the trees. There's ivy around the chimneys and side wall, and it has a pretty thatched roof. There's a front garden that's halved by a flagstone path, and there are wild rose bushes along the front wall and under the front windows. Jasper takes me inside and obviously he knows where he's going, because he takes us down a corridor into a huge kitchen, which clearly takes up the whole width of the house. There's an actual Aga in here. I have always wanted an Aga. The floor is flagstones, and there are various pretty rugs scattered about. There's a big wooden table and scrubbed stone work surfaces under cupboards.

"The fridge is built into that cupboard and the freezer is underneath it. We didn't bother with a dishwasher."

"This is amazing. Seriously, I can't tell you how much I love this kitchen." He grins at me and then leads me over to the table. There's a plate of sandwiches there, a couple of slices of sponge cake which smells like lemon to me and a bag of crisps. I'm almost too excited to eat myself - I want to watch him experience this. He serves us, and then he chews his lip for a bit.

"What's in these sandwiches?"

"Ham and cheese. Try it," I say, failing completely to veil my excitement,

"What if I don't like it?"

"You don't have to eat it," I say, smiling. "There's no forced obligation." He picks up his sandwich and after admiring it for a while, takes a tentative bite. I wait for him to chew and swallow. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, I think so. It tastes alright."

"Good. We'll have to start compiling lists of things you do and don't like." He eats slowly, and eventually I pick up a sandwich and start my own meal.

"What do humans do when they go on dates?" he asks me, swallowing his mouthful.

"Uh, they go to see films, or they go out for dinner, or they go to a club - later in the dating process - or they go on picnics. Whatever you want."

"Do you want to go out for dinner with me?"

"Do you mean on a date?" I tease.

"Yeah. I mean on a date."

"I'd like that." He beams at me. Suddenly, the light in the room changes, and I turn to the window, getting up and walking over. "Jasper," I say, holding out my hand, "come here." He gets up, comes over, taking my hand right before he steps out of the shadowy kitchen and into the pool off sunlight by the window. His hand comes up to shield his eyes, and then he looks at that hand in wonder.

"I don't sparkle any more."

"You don't. You just look healthy and human."

"I look like you."

"No, you don't. You look like you did before you became a vampire, I'd imagine."

"I can remember now."

"Remember before?" I ask him, a spark of electricity running through me. We're still standing in the sunlight.

"Yes. I couldn't before. I still remember my vampire life, but now there's the human side too. I remember my mother."

"What was she like?" I ask him softly.

"She - I look like her. People used to say that. My father used to say that. All the time. He wanted me to look like him - he was dark, less rangy, but I have his height at least. But both me and my sisters look like our mother."

"You had sisters?"

"Six."

"You had six sisters?"

"Hmm. I was the only boy and he wanted a son like him but instead he got another blonde. I'm the youngest - was the youngest. I went to their funerals, quietly, discreetly, stood at the back. I have family still living in Houston. Great nieces and nephews. Great-great nieces and nephews, if it comes to that. It's the only thing I regret, not seeing them grow up."

"Did you get on with your sisters?"

"Most of the time. Did you get on with your siblings?"

"Only child. My parents wanted the perfect little nuclear family - them, one boy and one girl - but after me there weren't any more kids."

"Did that bother them?"

"I don't think so. They were happy enough - and besides, I was only young when I started producing little lights and reviving dead flowers and making noises without doing anything. I think that may have put them off."

"So, did you always know you were a witch?"

"I suspected. But I didn't know until I was 11, and I got my Hogwarts letter. My parents got one too, explaining who I was and the reason behind all the lights and stuff. They were so proud of me." I shake myself a little. "Tell me more about you."

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Stuff about your childhood. Your favourite game, your favourite sister, their names. What were you like as a boy, what did you like doing?"

"Well, it was the 1800s. My favourite game was probably running around in the woods with my friends playing at soldiers. My favourite sister was Katy - short for Katherine. She was the oldest, and she was very protective of me. She begged the hardest when I said I was joining up. She didn't want me to go. She said she knew that something bad would happen, that she wasn't going to see me again. And she didn't, she was right. Except I didn't die like she thought. There was Katy, Anna, Elizabeth, Lucy, Victoria and Emmie - short for Emmiline."

"Emmiline?"

"I know. She hated that name and thus I called her it constantly. She was the baby and then I came along and was abruptly my father's favourite."

"Because you were the boy."

"Yeah, because I was the boy. It wasn't really very fair. But that was how it was - she was still his little princess, but he finally had his son and heir, the means to carry on the family name. He set a lot of store in the Whitlock family name. I'm the last one left now. All my sisters married, changed their names. I was very spoilt by my parents. Again, being the only boy - they saw to it that I was very well educated, I went to the best schools in Texas. Learning, however, did not come naturally to me - I suppose it bored me. Now I love it. But then I thought it was all a waste of time and all I wanted to do was play with my friends and then, when I got too old to play, just hang out with them and flirt with girls." I laugh, and he grins too. "It was always about who could get the most invitations and who could get the most dances at the balls."

"So you were a player." He laughs, nods sheepishly.

"I was also sixteen and very arrogant."

"And a player," I tease, giggling.

"And a player," he acknowledges, before he turns deep grey eyes to me. "Are you jealous, Miss Granger?"

"Insanely. If all those girls weren't long dead, I might get annoyed." He laughs.

"Do you want to see the rest of the house?"

"Yes." He leads me down the stone corridor, passing the front door, shows me a living room and wide as the kitchen, but not as long. It is cosy and warm, a merry fire crackling in the grate and some flowers in a vase in the window. There's a staircase at the back, and he leads me up it. The bathroom is modernized and yet old fashioned, keeping the flagstones and clawed-foot bathtub, but also tucking a power shower into a wooden cabinet so it's discreet and fits in.

"There's three bedrooms up here. We, uh, had to make a choice. And we weren't sure what you'd prefer to do. Whether you'd prefer to have a room of your own or whether - anyway, we figured, or I figured rather - well, I wanted to do this properly. Or properly-ish. We'll be sharing the house but not a bedroom." I nod, really unable to construct a thought. "So, this is you." I step inside and gasp. It's beautiful, and yet tasteful. Emerald green drapes are hanging at the window which opens to the forest and our back garden. The rug matches, the flagstones are heated under my feet, and the bed just takes my breath away. Double, two pillows, a duvet and a blanket folded over the foot.

"You remembered everything."

"Every detail. Even that you like a summer duvet no matter what time of year it is. And the mattress is a memory foam, Carlisle says that's the best thing against your skin right now." I'm barely hearing him. The headboard has caught my eyes. It's a woodland scene, trees and plants. It looks almost alive.

"Where did you find this?"

"I made it."

"You made this?"

"Do you like it?"

"It's incredible, I love it. When did you do this?"

"While you were recovering. Needed something to do to stop me spending all day standing over you." I smile at him, and cross the room, slipping myself into his arms.

"Can I see your room?"

"Sure," he says, smiling at me, taking my hand again and pulling me down the corridor. He's at the far end of the corridor, next door to the bathroom. I'm next door to the third bedroom, presumably the master bedroom. I'm itching to see it. Jasper takes my hands and pulls me into his room. The bed from the house is there, and he has a headboard of his own, his depicting a ship. His drapes and rugs are deep blue. His wardrobe, drawers and bedside cabinet are a light pine instead of my dark mahogany furnishings. His window looks out over the little front garden.

"I love it."

"Yeah, I did this on my own. And I did the master suite."

"Can I see the master suite?" He hooks his arms around my waist and I look up at him, laughing.

"Not yet. You get to see the master suite when I carry you over the threshold of it and make love to you." I raise my eyebrows.

"You're confidant."

"Are you denying that we'll get there?"

"Absolutely not."

"I'm going to kiss you."

"That's fine." He kisses me, and it's long and soft. I can't get over how different it is to kiss him now, when he's soft and warm and he isn't holding anything back from me. Before, when we both knew a loss of control would either mean my death or a serious injury. It's different to feel soft skin under my hands, nice to feel warmth instead of goosebumps. He's still solid under my hands, I can feel hard muscle from his soldier training, calluses on his hands from his horse. The thought of him clad in riding gear and cowboy hat sends a delicious tremor down my spine. He eases back, strokes his thumb over my lips, cupping my face in big, capable hands, placing a gentle closed kiss on my lips.

"I cant believe this is real."

"Are you happy?" I ask, softly.

"Unbelievably. I'm never going to be able to repay you for doing this for me."

"I'm never going to ask you to."

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Shhh. It's OK." I reach up and play with his hair, tucking it back off his face, running my fingers through the strands. His hand in turn runs over the short strands on my own head, where my hair is finally growing back.

"I want to keep you here. I want you all to myself."

"The others want to see you. We can have all evening, all tomorrow -"

"All our lives," he whispers. "All our lives together."

"I know," I agree, kissing him again. "All our lives."


End file.
